Aftershock (Now being rewritten)
by Vodid
Summary: The earthquake, affecting everyone in the area, but one eighteen year old girl was the epicenter, being the one who was kidnapped. Yes, the earthquake was a kidnapping. This leads to many chain reaction of events to unfold, like an aftershock, such as receiving a guardian from a military group and discovering secrets.
1. Prologue

**Hello friends and viewers! I'm gonna try and make this short; some of you may know that this story was revamped, as I said in the author's note. If you haven't checked this story out, well, now you have and I'd like to say thanks for taking your time to read this.**

**I'd like to thank many people, but I'll just cut it short to DJ Jazzy, who's supported me through all my stories on FanFiction, and special thanks to 99Luftballonsx.o.x for also supporting me and beta-reading this, thank you two so much! :)**

**I decided to change the story's title from "New Life" to "Aftershock," due to the previous title's overuse on FanFiction. Plus, I did a super filtered search, and found out (so far) there are no other Transformer stories called "Aftershock," lucky me!**

**This story happens a year after the first movie of the Transformers trilogy/series ended. Also, I decided to keep Jazz alive (Michael Bay, you bastard) he's one of my favorite Autobots (As he is for many other fans) So let's just act like he never died! Alright, enough talking. Let's just get started with the prologue. Hope you really enjoy this!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Autobots, start your engines!" - Jazz G1**

* * *

**Prologue**

_June 18, 2008_

The school bell rang loudly, echoing through the campus, indicating it was the end of the day, and the end of the school year. High school students began to walk out of the entrance doors, some staying behind on campus to hang out with friends or alone. Many settled in small groups, some larger and a few containing one or two students.

One girl sat on a bench next to a tree, left of the concrete stairs that lead up to the school's entrance. She wore a red shirt with black pants, her casual clothing. She took out a notebook and a pencil. Flipping through the pages, she looked at each one of her drawings. She stopped flipping the pages when she reached a drawing of two people, a man holding a baby with a woman having her hand on his shoulder, hovering over.

The whole drawing was led from a pencil, no colors. The girl continued on her work, ignoring others that were loud and snotty, even if they directed it towards her or someone nearby her. Flicking her red braid from her shoulder to her back, she leaned down to continue drawing, leaving long or short pencil streaks to form shapes and shading.

The man was tall and lean, his hair a dark shade, he wore glasses and a white collar bone shirt. The woman was a little shorter, she had a darker shade of hair. Her nose was smaller than the man's and she had a blush on her cheeks. The baby in the middle was a girl that had both the man and the woman's features, barely any hair on it's head, but the same darker shade the woman had. Her eyes were small and looking up at the man.

In the girl's perspective, the trio was one of the brightest memories she's had about her previous parents, from when she was an infant. She barely remembers the two, for she had been only two years old when she was up for adoption. She knows not of where her parents went, only their appearances. She remembers a lullaby her previous mother sang to her. This was all hard to remember, but something the girl had cherished the most.

She's been working on the drawing for months now, trying to get realistic details going. It was a portrait of the parents' torsos up to their heads. The details and shading were neatly done, each pencil mark was perfectly made. The hardest part for the girl was to draw the baby. She lifted her head to look around before dropping it again, facing towards the paper.

Minutes later, she heard foot steps on the concrete stairs. Looking up, she saw a student walking towards her, a smile on his face. He wasn't too young, though he did look like he was around her age. He had blond hair with a black streak in the front, baby blue eyes bringing out the color. He wore a black jacket with a pale yellow t-shirt underneath. Regular denim jeans with black and white sneakers were nice and fit on him.

"Hey," He breathed while sitting down next to her, "How's it going?"

"Great, how's it being a new student?" She glanced at him before she went back to drawing.

The student put his hands in his jacket pockets and slumped in the bench, "Hard work, but I'll live. They are making me work more throughout summer. What are you drawing there?" Curiosity marked his voice and the girl couldn't resist to show him. She handed her notebook to the student and let him get a good look at it. Seconds later, he nodded in approval. She blushed.

"It's Beau, right? You like being called Beau?" She watched him examine her drawing of the portrait. He nodded again while handing back the notebook.

"Beau's my name. Sometime's B. Your's?"

The girl kept quiet, not answering his question. He could tell that instant she was a shy student, nonetheless, he didn't want to push her. "That's alright. Personal info, I know how it feels."

She nodded, continuing to draw the man's features; drawing long light streaks for his hair.

"Are these your parents or other people?"

"These were my previous parents from when I was still a baby. I barely remember them." She didn't look away from her drawing, though she did understood his curiosity for her art.

Several minutes of silence caused a student to come outside, looking for Beau. He left the girl to her drawing and followed the student off of campus. Many students still lingered around the campus, including a large group of the popular, snotty people. The girl kept quiet, keeping away unwanted attention from them. The group started to draw closer to her, minute after minute. The girl decided to leave, heading for home.

She packed her notebook and pencil, stood up and headed for the sidewalk. She walked down the concrete path, heading for her house not too far from the school.

The girl turned into an alley as a shortcut to another street. The alley seemed long, but at least it was shorter than going around. It wasn't one of those stereotypical alleys where it's dark and creepy or something like that, the buildings are shorter and farther apart, providing lots of sunlight.

But something didn't seem right that made the girl regret her decision, she clutched her elbows a little tighter, getting a strange feeling she was being watched. Probably just someone looking out one of the windows, she assumed, but her reassurance did nothing to change the feeling.

She continued walking, the sole of her foot creating a clapping sound every time she stepped in a puddle. She looked around, the building to her left was white while the one next to her was regular brick. The buildings looked brand new, or at least repainted.

The girl didn't bother looking at the fire escapes, someone would know they'd be a fire hazard just by standing there.

Ever so suddenly, eight men leaped out of no where and blocked off her path, they surrounded her in a tight circle, none of them said anything. They were all wearing a grey t-shirts with black pants, they each had black hair with similar haircuts. The girl froze, could this be a gang? Lost in her thoughts, a pain erupted in her head and she collapses as she realizes she was just knocked unconscious by the man that stood behind her. Her vision grew hazy, and finally went black.

With that, she was gone.

* * *

_June 20, 2008_

A black TopKick drove down the road with a male brunette riding inside, looking to be in his mid-thirties. He held the steering wheel with a firm grip of determination.

He was worried about the teenager who had disappeared about two days ago, her disappearance shocked everyone, including her parents and nearby neighbors. He wondered if she was okay, or if she was murdered. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel at the thought of an innocent eighteen year old being killed.

She was all over the news, sending out an AMBER alert to everyone in the area of Tranquility. Everyday, her parents hoped of her return, or at least her body being found. The radio was on about the teenager, it no longer struck his interest, for he didn't want to think about it too much. "Ironhide, could you turn off the radio please?"

"Sure..." The radio turned off by itself, but continued to speak, "What's up with you lately, Lennox? You've been acting off."

"I just don't like to think about what happened to her. And I told you to call me Will. Lennox is my last name and only addressed when I'm in the military." Will gave a lopsided smile and glanced at the radio before looking back at the road. Odd enough, little to no vehicles were on the road, it was silent.

The vehicle jerked, grabbing Will's attention, "What's wrong?"

"I sense a Decepticon signature." The voice returned, and once again came out of the radio, no surprise to Will.

"You mean, there's a Decepticon around here?"

"No, it's as if a Decepticon has put it's signature on...T-to claim something o-or someone..." It was unusual for Ironhide's voice to stutter and trail off. The car started driving itself by turning left into an alley, stopping once it went about a few yards in.

A figure appeared in the passenger seat, it was a tall man with a lot of muscle. His hair was similar to Will's, except just black. His dark clothes brought out the light blue eyes he had. The figure was called a holoform, it's used by Ironhide to activate his human form projection.

Jumping out of the TopKick, he told Will to stay put, he walked in front of the car and looked both left and right, looking for the signature's source. "The Decepticon signature is right around here-" His voice instantly cut off as he froze, looking at something behind a trash can. "Uh, Will...We have a problem..."

Will climbed out of the vehicle and ran towards the holoform, jumping in shock as he saw what Ironhide saw.  
Complete horror.

Lying there, unconscious, was the girl who had been kidnapped. She was covered in blood, blood stains were all over her clothes. Her nose was bleeding, same with her right side and her back. It looked as if she were stabbed once in the side, and sliced three times in a row on the back, like she had received a whipping, except with a dagger. The wounds were fresh.

What scared Will the most was that she had two cut off wires poking out of her side's wound with blue liquid surrounding it. The brunette tried his best not to cringe at the sight.

Both men crouched next to the girl, Will checking for a pulse. It was faint, but there. He grabbed the holoform's shoulders and slightly shook them, "Call base. She needs medical attention."

Ironhide nodded at the order, he looked away while his irises dimmed before coming back to their original bright blue. He nodded again, "Ratchet's on his way."

Will nodded in return. He hesitantly poked the wires, then quickly pulled his hand back when they had shocked him. A faint siren was getting louder by the second, hopefully it was Ratchet instead of people; they wouldn't know what to do.

A search and rescue Hummer H2 pulled into the alley, followed by a red and blue flamed Peterbilt. Both activated holoforms and rushed over to Ironhide and Will. They stopped, stunned by the sight.

The first holoform, that came out of the Hummer, was wearing a medical lab coat, his short hair was a dusty brown color. The second holoform that had come out of the Peterbilt was wearing a white shirt with a red jacket and blue denim jeans, his hair was a dark blue color. Both of them had vibrant blue eyes.

"Well...Don't just stand there! She needs help!" Will exclaimed at the two holoforms.

Ratchet's holoform stepped forward to scan her wounds, the three men watched him as he did. He shook his head, "I can't work with her here. We need to move her back to base."

The Hummer holoform took out a stretcher from his vehicle and they set the teenager down onto the stretcher and it went back into the vehicle. Ratchet shut the doors and took off, out of the alley and towards the base.

* * *

_June 27, 2008_

"Right, the girl who had been kidnapped...Eighteen years of age...By who?...Them?!...Wait, wires? What do you mean...Blue liquid as well? What does that mean?...She has a what?...You're saying she's a...How?...And you left it inside of her?...Are you sure?...How do you think she had it?...No, that seems rather impossible...If you say so...They couldn't have put in her..."

The girl opened her eyes, she heard part of the conversation, the other person who was talking had his voice muffled, but clearly he was the one explaining everything. She looked around the room, she was on a hospital bed with IV tubes in her arm. She couldn't move, she couldn't even feel her body.

Two men stood at the door to the room, one in a medical lab coat with a blue shirt and khaki pants, looking to be in his mid-forties. He held a pen and a clipboard. The other in a zipped up red jacket with jeans, looking a little younger like mid-thirties.

"She's awake." Both men turned their heads to see the girl watching them with content.

The one in the medical lab coat walked over to the teenager, "How are you feeling?"

"How am I supposed to feel?"

"Unable to feel your body."

"Then...I am unable to feel my body." He sighed and wrote on his clipboard.

The other man was talking to someone outside of the room, the girl couldn't see him, but could only make out his voice. "Who's he talking to?"

The doctor didn't look up from the clipboard, "No one."

"Are you sure? It sounds like B." This time, Ratchet looked at the girl, "Like, Beau, from my school."

"Oh, Beau. Yes, it is him."

"But you just said it was no one." The teenager looked at the door and back to Ratchet with an arched eyebrow, she couldn't help but smirk as the doctor held a poker face. He cleared his throat and fixed his glasses without a word being said. Without hesitation, she spoke again, "How long have I been out?"

"A week." She silently nodded and the doctor turned to walk towards the door. The girl was then left to peacefully sleep.

The doctor stepped out of the room, looking for the other man he was talking to. A baritone voice called his name, "Ratchet."

He looked left to find the man who called his name talking to the Beau and Ironhide. Beau asked out of curiosity, "Is the teen alright?"

"She's fine. Her wounds are healing well, she'll be ready to leave tomorrow." He nodded towards the two and spoke in a gruff voice, but muttered something partly to himself while walking away, "She'll definitely have scars." Both men followed him, leaving Beau alone.

He pitied on the girl, she's going to have scars to remind her of the time she was almost killed. Beau didn't know her name, nor did the others. She was going home soon, and hopefully they'll learn her name. He sighed and walked in the direction the threesome went.

* * *

_June 28, 2008_

The girl was now sitting up, her legs hanging off of the bed's side. She slid down until her feet touched the cold tile floor, her socks weren't enough to keep that cold hard feeling, she shivered. With the aid of Ratchet, the teen was able to stand. The doctor's hand was placed on her back while the other was holding her hand. After a week of lying in bed, her body became stiff, especially after surgery.

She became steady on her feet, then took a step. The girl looked at Ratchet, a sign that he can let go. And he did. He watched her begin to walk with his arms folded across his chest. She looked at Ratchet again, another sign saying she could walk, he nodded with a smile in return, "Ready to go home?"

Her head looked up again in shock, "Already?" Ratchet nodded in response. She turned her head down to look at her clothes, it was one of those medical gowns patients wore, "What about clothes?"

"I have that covered." He left the room and returned a moment later with a fresh outfit of clothes. It was a white t-shirt with grey sweatpants and underwear, the girl's converses were in there as well. They looked clean, as if they were a new pair of shoes, maybe they were. "You going to change now? Bathroom's across the hall."

The teen nodded, took the clothes and walked out of the room, allowing her socks to slip on the floor. Ratchet was right, the bathroom was directly across the hall. She opened it's door, turned on the light while closing the door and changed into her clothes. After that, she turned off the light, slipped out the door and headed back into the room she was originally in.

Ratchet came out of the door and cut her path off, "You don't need to return inside. Your possessions are in m-The vehicle." He didn't make eye contact after his mess up in his speaking, he just turned to walk down the end of the corridor, the girl followed close behind. Ratchet opened a door on the ride side of the corridor and stuck his head in, "I'm taking her home."

"Alright, return immediately after." The baritone voice was muffled, the girl was curious but didn't move. Ratchet closed the door and continued to walk down the corridor.

They reached the end where a large front office lied. Ratchet continued on without a word said, he headed out the doors where a yellow and red rescue Hummer was parked next to the curb, waiting for them. Ratchet opened the passenger door for the teenager to climb in, she did so with ease. She sat comfortably in the seat, positioning herself before strapping on her seat belt and picking up her backpack from the floor.

The girl unzipped the backpack to make sure_ everything_ was still in there. Her phone with it's earbuds wrapped around it, her notebook was there, all of her schoolwork as well. She examined the backpack's contents closely. She zipped her backpack closed and set it on the floor once she knew her belongings were still there.

Minutes passed of the Hummer driving down the road, the teenager wasn't paying attention to where they came from nor did she care. They passed by the alley she was kidnapped in, it was the same alley where she was found. Police tape blocked off the alley and two police cars with investigators were there.

"Take a left," Ratchet did as the girl instructed, "Take a right here." She pointed at an upcoming intersection. The Hummer turned and drove down a road with separated houses on both sides. "My house is the cappuccino-like colored house on the right."

Ratchet hummed in acknowledgement, it was a nice house. It was an average size, it's paint was indeed cappuccino colored while it's frames were like chocolate. A single police car was parked in the driveway behind a silver Honda Civic. The Hummer parked on the side of the curb, Ratchet climbed out and opened the door for the girl, who was putting on her backpack.

She climbed out and walked with the doctor to the door, it had a screen door and a front door closed behind it. The girl reached the door, bringing the keys out of her pocket. She opened the screen door, and slowly inserted her key into the front door's lock, taking a deep breath before opening it. With Ratchet following, she walked in.

At the sight of the girl, it seemed as if time had stopped as everyone stared at her. The teenager took off her backpack, putting the keys back into it's pocket. "Kadie!" A young girl, about eight quickly ran towards the teen, she had long ash blonde hair, it flowed freely on her back.

The eighteen year old crouched and stretched her arms, her short sister ran into her arms, returning a tight hug. The teen pulled back, gave her a quick kiss and smiled. "How's my little sister doing?"

"You were gone for so long!" She exclaimed, looking at the teen's face as if she hasn't seen it before. The teen simply chuckled.

A taller woman, in her late thirties hugged the teenager as she stood, tears falling down her face. "We were so worried."

"Mom, I'm okay."

"Jade, go get Joanna and Kai." The tall woman looked over to the eight year old standing next to them. The little girl nodded and excitedly sped up the stairs. While the eight year old was gone, the woman introduced herself to Ratchet, and he returned the greeting.

Three kids ran down the stairs, Jade, the eight year old, leading the way. A girl, about thirteen and a boy who was fifteen followed closely behind. "Kade." The boy breathed before moving in to embrace the eighteen year old, tears dared to escape his eyes; no sobs, just tears. He didn't let go until the thirteen year old pried him off to get her turn.

The embrace ended when there was a soft knock on the screen door's frame, the tall woman flicked her light blonde hair onto her back while walking over to the door. "Will?"

"Quinn." She opened the door to let him in, "Came here to see how she's doing."

He smiled at the sight of the eighteen year old who stood a few feet away. She stepped towards Will, he took a single step and cupped girl's cheek, she leaned into the touch. His hand went from her cheek to a strand of her ruby red hair. "I always wonder how your hair is naturally red. Tomato." He muttered before pulling her into a tight hug.

"I thought you had work today." She didn't pull out of the embrace.

Will took a long deep breath in the teenager's hair before responding, "I took the day off so I could see how my first daughter's doing." She smiled and pulled out of the hug. Will looked over to Ratchet, "Can I speak to you for a minute, Ratchet?"

The brunette stepped outside with Ratchet following behind. "She's your daughter? Why didn't you tell us?" Ratchet exclaimed, trying his best to keep his voice down to attract little to no attention. Will shrugged, "You never asked."

Ratchet took a deep breath, "She's going to have scars, you know."

Will simply nodded in response, "Is she going to receive a guardian?"

"Most likely. We can't risk this happening again, her body could barely handle the wounds she recently inflicted. She nearly died." They nodded in unison, looking at the ground. Silence consumed the two.

"Kadence," Ratchet looked up at Will, "Her name's Kadence."

"Full name?"

"Kadence Jacqueline Bluett, that good enough for you?"

Ratchet nodded, "Prime wanted me back at base once I dropped her off."

"Alright," The brunette clapped his hands together, "Well, I'll see you later?"

Ratchet silently nodded again before heading towards the Hummer parked on the curb. Will turned to walk back into the house, hearing the Hummer drive away before entering the home.

* * *

Kadence lied in her bed that night, silently staring at the ceiling. She looked to her left to see her window, the soft light from the moon was seeping through the blinds, creating lines of light on the opposite blue-colored wall. Fiddling with the corner of her blanket, she thought to herself, thinking about everything that's happened.

At least school was over for her, she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to go to college. Her parents never made her do things she didn't want to, unless they were something like chores, then yes they'll make her. But if it was school related, they'll allow anything.

She took many classes, many relating to art. She took chorus, art, the clarinet in band and dancing classes. Her eyes moved to the clarinet case sitting against the wall, the song "*Mystic Legend" played itself in her mind as she stared at the case, she remembered the song from her sixth grade band class. She thought of her chorus class in fourth grade, remembering "*Put a Little Love in Your Heart," a song from the nineteen-sixties that her chorus group sang.

Her thoughts trailed off, turning into what she was grateful for; such as her family and their love.

Kadence slipped off her bed and walked over to her mirror. Lifting her shirt, she saw the three deep scars running down her back and the pink streak on her right side from her surgery, also a scar. She let her shirt fall back into place as she walks back to her bed.

After staring at her alarm clock for what seemed like minutes, she finally realized it was past eleven. It was late. With a sigh, she turned onto her side, staring at the lines of light on the blue wall. Counting each one until she fell asleep.

_*Mystic Legend - By Anne McGinty_

_*Put a Little Love in Your Heart (1969) - By Jackie DeShannon_


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey! Here's a new chapter for the story! I will try not to, but I'm not gonna be updating often because I have a lot of school work, chores, artwork and other stories to work on. So, like the last chapter, I will have a "short" author's note, a disclaimer and a quote (for fun)**

**So, sorry for the long wait! Time isn't really helping me out right now. It's a little pressuring considering the fact I wanted this chapter out sometime in early April. But, time being mean, I posted late. Very late. But yes, it's out. So I'm planning on spending a lot more time on this, maybe make chapters slightly shorter, two thousand words or more. Depends. **

**You all might see the reviews for the previous story "New Life," I'm completely fine with you reading them, they actually make me smile and remember when I was typing New Life. The reviews from New Life should not link to any future chapters of Aftershock. So if you want to read them, go on ahead. You'll see my mistakes and successes, laughs and frowns.**

**I want to say thanks to you guys for being so patient with these chapters. :)**

**For DJ Jazzy (I asked for her opinion;) the story will remain third person. My original idea was to switch to first person, but then I got a little indecisive. Also she read it before I posted. So thank you Jazzy. :b**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Time makes all things possible. I can wait." - Starscream G1**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_June 29, 2008_

A new day, a new life. This was the beginning of Kadence's summer and the beginning of her life as an adult. She blankly stared at her ceiling, _I'm an adult._ Her mind was in doubt, thinking she was still a young teenager, or she still had school, _There is college._

Daylight was shining through the blinds, occasionally disappearing due to the sun being covered by the clouds. She thought about the day before, still staring at the ceiling with bored eyes.

A soft knock woke her from her thoughts. Groaning, Kadence replied, "Go away, Joanna. I don't want to draw."

The door opened just a crack, a small head fit through, "Actually, it's Jade."

Kadence blinked, mentally facepalmed, sat up and put on her best smile, "What's up Jay?"

"Mom made breakfast if you want to eat. Kai's a fast eater, so you better hurry." She giggled at the thought of her older brother gobbling down all the food, Kadence simply smiled.

"Alright, tell Mom I'll be down in a few." The young adult was now off her bed and dressing. Jade nodded, excitedly closed the door and ran downstairs. Kadence shook her head and chuckled at her younger sibling's good nature. Always having a cheerful spirit.

The eighteen year old put on a red t-shirt and black yoga pants, also slipping on a pair of socks.

Before walking out her bedroom door, Kadence pulled up her blinds to the let light in, also opening her window to let fresh air in her room. A neighbor from across the street stepped out of his house and walked to his car. Kadence called out to him and waved, he returned the same greeting. She watched as the yellow and black Camaro across the street pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street. She sighed, remembering Sam from first all the way to twelfth grade, they were acquaintances at first, then they became good friends.

She opened her bedroom door, hearing the voices of her family downstairs. Kadence went down the laminate stairs with a carpet runner, the first two creaking under her feet. She made her way into the kitchen, finding her siblings already eating breakfast at the island table. Helping herself, the young adult sat down and ate her breakfast.

"Kadence, honey, Dad is going to come and pick you up. He's having you for a few days." Kadence nodded in her mother's direction, understanding what that meant. Her parents were divorced, on some occasions, Will would take her to his house for several days, sometimes weeks and possibly even months. "Make sure you bring all you need."

After finishing her breakfast, the eighteen year old went up to her room to pack. Making a list in her mind, she packed. _Backpack, phone, charger, earbuds, sketchbook, pencil bag, book..._Her simple list went on for a couple more items before Kadence was done packing just as someone knocked on the door.

She ran back down the stairs, throwing the backpack onto her back. Will was standing in the doorway, just entering the house. _Perfect timing_.

Will watched as his daughter grabbed her jacket, slipped on her converse and said farewell to her family. She walked out the door with her father following close behind. That familiar black TopKick was parked on the curb, already running and ready to leave whenever. Kadence climbed into the passenger seat while Will went for the driver's side. They began to drive down the road.

"So how have you been?" Will glanced at his daughter before locking his eyes onto the road.

"Dad, you saw me yesterday. I'm fine."

"I'm just making sure."

Silence took over for a few minutes until Will spoke again, "You thinking of getting your own house?"

"I don't know. I mean, I don't even have a job." She sighed, "Plus it's nice to just live with your family. I don't want to be away. At least, not yet."

It took around half an hour to get there, but Will and Kadence made it to his house before noon. Will's house was secluded, some time away from civilization. It was hills, fields and then their house. Kadence took a deep breath as she stepped out of the TopKick, "I always end up missing the fresh air out here."

"It's fresher here than Quinn's?"

"This place is nothing but your house and empty fields, of course it's fresher." William chuckled at her response, shaking his head.

Faint barking was heard inside the house as the two walks onto the porch, Kadence smiled.

Her father unlocked the door and opened it, "Ladies first." He motioned for his daughter to walk in. The house layout was pretty simple, the living room was to the left, no walls. To the right were the stairs that led to the second floor, where the bedrooms were. In a doorway behind the living room was the dining room. Ahead was the kitchen.

The living room held three people, all looking at the eighteen year old who stood before them. A man with black hair and dark clothes held a baby in his lap. While a woman with blond hair sat next to him. The woman stood to greet Kadence, she went for a quick hug. "Hey Sarah."

The two women kissed each other's cheek as a greeting before pulling out of the embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay." Sarah stared into her step-daughter's eyes. A dog sat obediently in the middle of the living room floor.

"Oh, and Pepito," Sarah grabbed the German Shepherd's attention, his head looked up at the woman, "Why don't you come greet Kadence?" Instead, the dog covered his eyes with his paws and whined.

Kadence rolled her eyes, "Pepito, stop that. I know you love me."

"And this is Ironhide, it's a code name." The man nodded towards the two women in acknowledgement, Kadence returned the same gesture. The baby in Ironhide's lap giggled and reached up to the man holding her.

There was a long pause before Will decided to speak, "So, uh, Kade, why don't you go unpack?"

Without a word, Kadence awkwardly turned around and walked up the stairs, carrying her backpack. The trio of adults started talking the moment she reached her room. The dog raced up the stairs, following the eighteen year old.

Kadence opened her bedroom door and sighed, seeing the caribbean blue wall paint she recalled. A smile graced her lips as she remembered the day her and Will painted the room a rich blue color.

Pepito raced into the room when the door was wide enough for him to squeeze through, he jumped onto Kadence's bed and lied down. The adult walked over to the bed, set her backpack next to the dog and started to unpack. The German Shepherd took up half the bed. "What am I supposed to do with you, Pepito?" She laughed at the dog's mischievous eyes. She finished unpacking within minutes.

"Hey Pepito?" The dog ignored her, she called again. And again. No reply. "Wanna go outside?" This time, the German Shepherd perked up, his head was up, eyes excited, ears pointed up, tongue lolled out and tail wagging. "You're a silly dog. Come on, let's go outside." She bent down and clapped her hands for the dog to come, he obeyed. She raced after him downstairs.

Kadence walked passed the living room and into the kitchen, where the backdoor was located. She opened the door and let Pepito through. He jumped off the stairs then ran through the yard. The dog turned around towards the eighteen year old and barked at her to join.

* * *

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Will looked over to Ironhide, who was distracted by the young infant in his lap.

"Until she gets used to me, and possibly the other Autobots' holoforms. Whenever she's ready." Ironhide continued to play with the baby but glanced at Will every so often, "Seeing us is a big step."

Ironhide paused, staring into the distance before snapping back into reality a minute later. "Prime needs us."

"Now? For what?" Sarah stepped into the conversation, she took the small infant from Ironhide's lap so he could move. The holoform nodded in response, "Decepticon activity, it appears."

Will left in a snap to get ready, he was promoted to Major and was made field commander of his specialized military group a few months ago. He came back minutes later with his equipment on and was ready to go.

The two men stepped outside just as Kadence came through the front with Pepito at her side, she noticed them. "Work?"

"Work." Will replied dryly, not wanting to leave shortly after she came. Nonetheless, Kadence nodded, understanding the importance of her father's job. Ironhide kept walking to the black TopKick, starting it once he got into the driver's seat.

Will kissed her a good-bye and turned to get into the TopKick, he glanced at his daughter, "I'll be home before you know it." He shut the door of the truck and it backed out of the driveway and onto the road. Kadence waved, then continued to play with Pepito.

**Pepito is dedicated to my mother's German Shepherd mix, Pepito. Rest in peace.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Reviews...About that. You all are so quiet. I need reviews! The less reviews, the slower it'll take for me to type. I need encouragement! Reading your reviews makes me excited to type more, just for you! I'm sure you've heard this a lot, but I really really need these reviews. I get sad not seeing any whenever I come on, then I don't feel like typing. I don't care if it's about a mistake in my writing or that you really liked it, I just need a review. :)**

**I've thought up important scenes, but left some plot holes, which is why it's taking me so long, I'm trying to figure out what to type. You have to really think it through. What is this guy gonna do? Where's he gonna go? What are all of his actions? My technology teacher taught me this when my class was making a "choose your own adventure" game.**

**Ironhide will play a big role (Or at least the biggest) in this story, just letting you all know. **

**And sorry that this chapter is shorter...and the A/N is long. XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Maybe Ironhide's ready for a nice, cushy office job." - Jazz, G1**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_June 29, 2008_

"She has a stronger energon signature? What a development since the last time I've seen her." Ratchet responded to Ironhide's report about Kadence.

"We'll need to keep a close eye on her. The signature might still be detectable by Decepticons." The team nodded towards their leader.

The first lieutenant spoke up, "How do you expect us to do that?"

"We're going on a day's worth mission. Bumblebee will still be with Sam, he should be able to watch her. When we all get back, you could use your holoforms. I mean, she already accepted Ironhide's holoform." Will clarified, "Shouldn't take too long for her to become accustomed." They all nodded again, agreeing with Will.

"Are you all ready for the mission?" Once more, the entire team nods. "Jazz, I need you to stay here with Ratchet. The rest of us will go as soon as possible. We cannot let this Decepticon get away." Optimus ordered and the team followed.

"Finally, I get to stretch." Ironhide moaned. By stretch he means fight. And by fight, well...It means to "kick some ass," as he likes to put it.

* * *

_June 30, 2008_

"It's gonna get borin' 'round here, Ratch," Jazz complained, "As if it isn't already."

"Oh, stop whining Jazz. The least you could do is find something to do. Better yet, why not just join Bumblebee in his little guardianship over Sam?" Jazz exclaimed it was a good idea, Ratchet simply rolled his optics, "Whatever you're going to do, it better not be in here, involving me."

Jazz walked out of the med bay, ignoring Ratchet's mumbles. He commed his friend, **:...A-yo, Bee! It's Jazz...:**

Bumblebee responded with a radio clip, **:...What can I do for ya?...:**

**:...What're you doin' right now?...:**

**:...Driving around-...With Sam...:**

**:...I was thinkin' of hangin' out with you all...:** Jazz waited for a response, which didn't take long. The lieutenant was cruising out of the base, letting the humans open the base gates for him.

**:...Sam says sure-...He suggests bringing-...Kadence-...With us...:** On the inside, Jazz smiled. Liking the idea, very much. William has talked so much about his daughter, Jazz has just been dying to meet her. **:...How about we-...Meet at lake?...:**

The lieutenant agreed. The public lake wasn't crowded today, barely any people were there, even though it's summer.

This will be the day Jazz has been waiting for.

* * *

Kadence walked through the town, silently listening to music on her headphones. She wore denim shorts and a white shirt with a tan jacket. A simple outfit. She had just gotten her hair cut, she now has bangs that leaned towards the right, the rest of her hair was trimmed.

A car was following her. It honked its horn to grab the adult's attention, which it succeeded with. Kadence turned her head around to see the source, it was the yellow and black Camaro. Sam's. She slowed her pace so it can easily cruise next to her, or park if Sam might do that.

Mikaela leaned out the rolled-down window, "Hey Kadence. You got some spare time?"

"I actually have all day." She shrugged, taking off her headphones to hear better.

"Want to come with us to the lake? It's not crowded today. Just to hang out," The two girls exchanged smiles, Kadence agreeing. "We also have a friend there we want you to meet. You'll like him."

Sam spoke up, "Climb in." Kadence walked to the back seat door, opened it and got settled in the Camaro. A familiar teen was sitting behind Sam's seat, his yellow and black cloths setting off an alarm in Kadence's head.

"I didn't know you guys knew each other."

"Huh? Oh-yeah, we've known each other for quite a while. We've actually been friends since the beginning of eleventh, he didn't transfer until a couple months before school ended. Right Beau?" The teen confirmed.

"Speaking of, how was the end of the school year for you?" Kadence glanced away from the window to see the kid next to her. They were rounding a corner, almost at the lake.

Beau emphasized many of his words while he replied, "It was brutal! They made me work non-stop. Get these projects done. Prepare me for finals. I barely made it out alive. Or...In other words, I barely made it to graduation." Kadence smiled.

"So what kind of engine does this Camaro have?" She kept her smile on, curious of the car.

"A V8. I didn't know you were into cars?" Mikaela butted in before Sam could even open his mouth, which left him baffled.

"Yeah," Kadence hummed in acknowledgement, "A V8..."

The four arrived at the lake. The water was still except for the soft breeze that barely skimmed the surface. Only a few people were there, some of which were just walking by.

The Camaro parked behind a grey Pontiac Solstice.

The teens jumped out of the Camaro and onto the public lake property's grass. Next to the Pontiac was a dark skinned man in his mid twenties leaning against a weeping willow. He wore grey jeans, a white shirt with a light blue stripe running vertically down, a dark leather jacket and black Nike shoes. Oddest part of his outfit was his blue visor glasses. The man looked up from the ground and smiled towards the group at the sight of them.

"Hey Jazz," Beau stepped forward to greet his companian. _Jazz...Interesting name. Or is it a nickname?_ Kadence watched the two. "There's someone we want you to meet." Jazz's eyes lit up. Kadence stepped forward as if on queue. "Jazz, this is Kadence. Kadence, this is Jazz."

The two shook hands as a greeting. "Pleasure to meet ya."

Kadence stifled a giggle, "I'm sure we'll get along just fine."


	4. Chapter 3

**Started off a little wobbly with my timing when I first started this story, the process of typing this was slow. Now that it's officially summer break, I can definitely type more.**

**My Dad's making my sister and I clean the house, with my free time, it's all spent into my stories, fan fictions or my original stories. I'm juggling them all at once, so of course I have a lot on my mind and it's getting harder and harder to focus on some things. **

**Plus Ocean City's coming up, from July second to the fifth, and but of course I'll be able to work on my stories there! I just don't think that I can bring my laptop (it's completely my decision) It's broken. I've attached a keyboard and mouse to it, since the laptop itself doesn't work. I might just use paper to write on, or use my mom's phone/dad's laptop. Either/or, I will still be able to work and read everyone's fanfics. :)**

**All I need now is some inspiration, time and focus...And a plot. Agh, I got bits and pieces of the plot going, but not what's right in front of me. It's like planning to go to this college, but haven't picked out a high school to go to. (No, I'm not in that situation, I'm just setting an example)**

**Do people even read these A/N?! XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"If a new source of energy is not found, no one is going to win this war." - Optimus Prime, G1**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_June 30, 2008_

The group of five stayed together for the entire day at the lake. It had turned dark about an hour ago, all of them chatting away or just chilling. At the moment, they were sitting at the water's edge, just watching the sky or the lake.

"What now?"

Kadence propped herself on her elbows after Beau's inquiry, "I dunno. Snack?"

"Lil' lady, you just had a snack an hour ago."

She pouted, "I get hungry..." The group chuckled at her response while Jazz just shook his head and smiled. Jazz stopped and stared at a patch of dew-ridden grass.

**:...Bee?...:**

**:...Yes-..Jazz?...:**

**:...You sense that signature too, right?...:**

**:...Yeah...:**

Jazz stopped comm linking his comrade, the signature was strong in his sensors. He looked around from his alt. mode, searching for the signature's source. He figured Bee was doing the same. Jazz warily looked at the shadows of the street, **:...Keep an optic on your surroundings...:**

* * *

**:...What 'Con is it this time?...:**

**:...Correction, 'Con_s_...: **Both Will and Ironhide sighed as Ratchet _had_ to correct.

**:...It appears to be Sideways and Grindor...:** Prime cut in before an unnecessary quarrel began.

A snort could be heard over the comm link, **:...Those fraggers. What do they think they're doing?...:** A silver Corvette C8 allowed its engine to flare, it sped up. The rest of the team fought to keep up.

* * *

A cranking noise echoed in the distance, catching the group of five's attention, they craned their necks to find the source, Mikaela stared at the road, "What was that?"

"Someone winding a music box?" Beau muttered, then cursed under his breath.

**:...Houston, we have a problem...:**

Faint pounds could be heard, the sound of metal scraping against the road filled the group's ears. This was all from afar.

Sam began to explain, "So, um, remember the terrorist attack in Mission?" Kadence nodded, "Um, oh God, where do I even start?"

"How about with us, Sam?" Jazz said before he disappeared in a flurry of blue sparks. Beau followed.

Kadence was just about to ask, a little freaked out by the situation. By now, the trio were standing. "The terrorists aren't gone. They're a bunch of them."

"What are they? Specifically Jazz and Beau."

Sam took a sharp intake of breath, "They're aliens- Well, I mean not like your stereotypical ones, these guys look like robots. Metal. But they have feelings, emotions. They like to put it as they were 'sentient beings from another planet.' Jazz and Beau are protecting us." The trio flinched as the sudden noise of loud whirs and clicks burst out of the silent air.

They looked at the Camaro and Pontiac. Kadence gasped at the sight. The sight of the two cars shifting. The doors and fronts moved, some of the pieces coming apart and making something new. The fronts were now the chests while the doors went onto their backs and tires onto their shoulders. The two cars were soon standing robots. _No, Sam said that they're "sentient beings."_

The grey one turned what looked like his head to the small group of teens, "Stay here," A blue visor came down that covered just his eyes. The Camaro followed the Pontiac as the two crept forward, activating what looked like cannons that replaced their hands.

"Sam, I still don't understand," Kadence stared in shock as the two bots walked on, "The grey one's Jazz while the Camaro's Beau. Right?" Sam nodded, "So, they weren't even human?"

"Jazz and Beau's human forms were called holoforms. They're like holograms, except they're physical projections. They seem a lot like human." Sam watched the teen's expressions, "You seem to be taking this better than I thought."

She shook her head, "I've heard of the terrorist attack in Mission, with and without the cover-up story. Sam, my father's in a specialized military group. I was expecting something else, but this is as equally terrifying. Even I'm surprised that I'm not panicking."

* * *

The team had spread out, looking for the two Decepticons. Minutes of searching have passed.

**:...Prime, we have another signature...:**

**:...Make that four, another one just came up on my sensors...:**

Ironhide grumbled in frustration, Will and a couple soldiers stayed by his side, also muttering, "This is the most we've seen in a while, and at once."

A soldier notices a small puddle of blue liquid, then another, and another leading after that. "We've got a trail," The soldier points at the puddles.

A creaking noise came up from ahead, where the puddles lead. The creaking continued, then stopped for a moment.

"Look out!" One of the soldiers from behind warned before there was an explosion.

A Decepticon jumped out from the smoke and lunged for the Autobot, "Silly Autobots! You ran straight into our trap!"

* * *

Mikaela spoke up after a long time of silence, "We should back away. Who knows, it could be a Decepticon."

"Decepticon?"

"The terrorists. They're fighting the Autobots."

"Autobots?"

"The defenders. They protect us. That's what Jazz and Beau are."

Kadence whistled, "This is a lot to take in."

"Trust me, I had a rougher introduction to these guys." They backed up slowly, rounding the lake's edge, getting some distance.

And that's when all hell breaks loose.


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry I got this out a little late, I always end up getting sick at Ocean City. This year, I got a headache on the first day we were there, it turned into a migraine. ****Before I left, I actually typed half of the chapter, I didn't have long to go. I pretty much had myself set! But hey, sixteen days! Last chapter took eighteen. XD**

**As I go along the story, I make up large important scenes...but not the smaller ones that lead to it. That's what I'm working on and why it's still taking me a long time to type these chapters.**

**So yes, Jazz is alive in this fan fiction. And Sunstreaker actually exists too. Don't worry none, these should be the _only_ two Autobots I'm adding, just so that it's not so confusing. Another note, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker have already arrived at Earth. So now that just makes the team Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. I want your opinion, should I add Prowl later on?**

**If you guys aren't satisfied with**

** the two thousand word chapters, just let me know through reviews, I can always make them longer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Sunstreaker: _[after being shot at]_ Hey! That's a new paint job!**

**Trailbreaker: _[after escaping attack]_ Thanks for your help, brothers!**

**Sunstreaker: What about my paint?**

**Sideswipe: Don't worry. No one will notice. Just make left turns!" - G1**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_June 30, 2008_

**:...Optimus, we're losing them!...:**

The Prime stopped pursuing, **:...Leave them...:**

**:...What?!...:** The team protested, slamming on their brakes.

**:...Prime, listen to me...: **A new comm link butted in, it was Jazz, **:...This was all a deception. You're all wasting your time there!...:**

**:...What do you mean?...:**

**:...Those Decepticons, they were there to distract you. Barricade confronted us. Kadence found out. She found out about us...:**

A growl came from over the link, Sunstreaker spoke up, **:...There goes the plan...:**

**:...Are they alright, Jazz?...:** There was just silence over their link, **:...Jazz?...:**

* * *

The Decepticon activated his cannon and shot the yellow and black bot behind Jazz. The bot held his arm where the bullet hit. Jazz swiftly hit and kicked the Decepticon. He yelped in pain as he was brought to the ground. The grey Autobot held the Decepticon's arms behind his back, "What do you want, Barricade?"

"Her. The girl." Jazz jumped off the Decepticon as he spoke. "Kardiness."

Kadence froze, "Me? And who the hell is Kardiness?" Jazz and Bee backed up as the Decepticon came closer.

"Barricade, we're warning you, one step closer and we'll deactivate you once and for all." Jazz threatened, bringing out a cannon. This stopped the Decepticon from nearing in.

"Ah, you've gotten smarter. So have I." Barricade backed away, odd enough. "We will get her some day."

Mikaela yelped as a smaller Decepticon jumped on her. Sam gasped in surprise.

"Frenzy? I thought you were fucking _dead_!"

Frenzy laughed as he mauled Sam again, "Shit, I don't have a chainsaw this time."

"Only rocks and water," Kadence looked around, "Water!" Mikaela was just about to question, "Wouldn't it, like, malfunction them?"

"There's no time, I'm trying it!" Sam shrieked before grabbing Frenzy off of his head and throwing him into the water. This time, Frenzy yelped. The small Decepticon tried to move but failed as his systems almost shut down. He jumped out of the water, heading towards Barricade.

"How is he alive? He was killed back in Sector Seven!"

Before Frenzy could even make it halfway to Barricade, Bee took action. He activated his cannon and shot the little guy. He shrieked. And it was over. Frenzy was dead once again.

"Dammit, I just rebuilt him!" Barricade yowled in fury before retreating once and for all.

The trio just watched as he backed away, Sam almost choked over his words, "So, w-what was the point of that?"

"I don't know. Failed attempt to capture me again?" Kadence shrugged, "Dunno."

* * *

**:...We're fine...:** Jazz returned to the comm link minutes later.

**:...What in the pit happened?...:** Sideswipe growled over the comm link, still frustrated about the Decepticons they lost.

The grey Autobot sighed through the comm link, **:...Barricade attempted to capture Kadence again. Frenzy was, odd enough, alive again. But he was deactivated by Bee. It is a probability that Barricade did not sense us, so he thought of it as vulnerability...:**

**:...We're coming back. Should be about another day until we're there...:**

**:...Well, obviously, it took us a day to get here...:** Sunstreaker retorted over the link.

* * *

The group silently drove back. Bee had activated his holoform again and was driving himself.

"The entire time," Kadence's voice trailed off before she could even continue speaking. Sam confirmed, repeating the same sentence.

"Is anybody hurt?" A familiar voice came through the radio.

Sam replied, "We're fine. I have a few scratches, bruises. Dunno about Bee, though."

"I'm okay," A radio clip played out from the speakers representing Bumblebee's reply.

"The rest of the team doesn't return 'till t'morrow, is Kadence free?" Jazz's voice returned, the red head absently nodded, "She might need to meet 'em."

The ride back to Kadence's house took longer, the group had avoided public areas in case Barricade was roaming there.

"So, what ranks do you two have?" The Autobots made hums of query, Kadence continued speaking, "You said there are five others in your team; the leader, Chief Medical Officer, weapons specialist and two front-liners. Don't you guys have ranks?"

"Ah, right lil' lady," Jazz spoke, his voice sounding humble, "Bee here is a scout while I'm the first lieutenant."

* * *

"Lennox or Bluett residence, Kade?" Jazz's voice returned after long minutes of silence. It had a little darker since they had left the lake.

"I'm staying at my Dad's. Lennox." She paused before taking a breath and continuing, "Am I going to be safe there?"

"Don't you worry none, lil' lady. As far as we know, they dunno where your father's house is." The grey Solstice ahead of Bumblebee turned into an exit, the Camaro followed closely behind.

The exit lead the small group to the long road to the house. Every few acres of land, there was a house. The road finally ended in a hill, it was now but a dirt road, flattened by all the times a car or a person has gone over it.

The Solstice pulls up first into the large dirt driveway, the Camaro parked behind. The two Autobots made sure their holoforms were activated and stepped out of themselves. The trio of humans followed. Kadence led the way to the front porch, "I don't have a key yet, let's just hope it's unlocked," she muttered. The adult turned the knob to the front door, but found it was locked. She cursed under her breath, walked passed the group standing behind her and jogged to the back door.

She turned the knob, it was unlocked. Kadence pushed the door open. "Isn't Sarah here to let you in?" Sam asked from behind. The red head shook her head as Pepito ran in and greeted them all. The kitchen was empty except for the entering group.

"She's asleep, either that or she went out," The adult watches as Pepito goes on and sniffs everybody, trying to figure out who they are or where they came from. The German Shepherd seemed to have remembered Sam as he jumps, placing his paws onto Sam's shoulders and licking his face nonstop. Kadence grabbed his collar and pulled the dog back, laughing as the boy wipes his face in disgust, "Still likes you."

Kadence grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and leaned against the kitchen counter, opening her bottle and taking a sip before placing it down onto the counter, "So, why did you guys come? Why'd the Autobots come to Earth?"

Sam nervously chuckled at that, scratching his head, "I was kind of 'the key to Earth's survival,' having to help the Autobots find the All Spark."

"Da All Spark was a giant cube that held raw Cybertronian power. It was lost long ago and appeared t'have crashed on Earth. Humans had the Cube and we didn't have the coordinates until we found Sam." Jazz watched as Pepito walked out of the kitchen.

"What did Sam have to do with it all?"

"I had my great great grandfather's glasses, which were cracked and had the coordinates to the All Spark. You remember the genealogy report from eleveth grade?"

"Yup." Kadence took another sip of her water bottle as an attempt to hide a laugh. Jazz, Bee and Mikaela also find ways to hide their humor.

"Shush, okay? I got an A-minus on that. Anyways, when my grandfather was exploring the Arctic Circle, he found the former Decepticon leader, Megatron, frozen in the ice. Somehow, my grandfather activated his navigation system and sent a power surge into him, which cracked his glasses and left coordinates hidden inside."

"Makes sense. So what happened to Megatron?"

She took one last gulp from her water bottle as Sam spoke, "I killed him, " Kadence almost choked on her water in disbelief, "With the All Spark. Don't die," He smiled as she set down her bottle on the counter and coughed, bending down and smiling as she did so.

Jazz spoke up after a long silence, "The others just boarded their plane back. They should arrive tomorrow in the morning. Bee, we should head back t'base before Ratchet throws a fit."

"Ratchet?" Kadence perked at the name, "I've met him."

"He operated on ya a lil' while back." Jazz opened the back door and let his comrade through first, "See ya tomorrow, lil' lady."

Sam and Mikaela stepped out afterwards, Mikaela said before closing the door, "We'll be seeing you."

* * *

**:...I didn't see them there. The first lieutenant took me down and the scout ended Frenzy once more...:**

**:...Dammit Barricade! Your mission was to retrieve the girl, and you have failed!...:**

**:...My sincere apologies, Starscream...:**

**:...That's _Lord_ Starscream to you! Grr!...: **The Decepticon leader mentally facepalmed, **:...Just...Just find the girl again, and don't engage. I'm very disappointed in you, Barricade...:**


	6. Chapter 5

**I'm pumped! So pumped right now! I'm working more and more on these stories! So eager to type for you all! Can't wait to post this. Hope this is good for you all! :D**

**Sometimes my "so pumped right now" mood can fade away. I know I have to type, but on some occasions I don't feel like typing. So of course, my mood will be changing. One minute, "I want to do this so badly!" the next, "Meh, I can do this later." ****That's mixed in with the plot problems I've been talking about.**

**But yes, I have actually typed this faster than usual. If there are any mistakes, just let me know.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"I've never seen anything this beautiful in the entire galaxy - alright, give me the bomb." - Ultra Magnus, G1**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_July 1, 2008_

The eighteen year old stood at the mirror, she pulled up her shirt to see her back. The scars were no different from before, they still streaked across her back in large white puffy lines, the skin looked pinched and red around the scars. She sighed and let her white top fall back into place.

She looked out her bedroom window, enjoying the view her father's house gave. It was morning. The day she'll meet the team of Autobots. She kept wondering about how they'll look. Jazz and Bumblebee were short, Jazz oddly being slightly shorter. Were the others going to be similar heights, or much taller? Different?

Kadence quickly got dressed into a light blue button down shirt and khaki pants the moment she saw the familiar Pontiac Solstice pull up in her driveway. She went downstairs, only to find Sarah chatting with Jazz already.

"So she's finally going to see you all?" Sarah asked and Jazz replied with a nod, he turned his head to see Kadence stepping off the last stair. The girl slipped on her converse and tied the laces. "Kadence, do you need to eat something?"

"No thanks, not hungry."

Sarah smiled and shook her head before looking back to Jazz, "She doesn't get hungry that often, especially in mornings. It's always a mystery to me."

"So ya ready Kade?" In response, she nodded and followed the holoform to the door. They walked to the Solstice parked outside and hopped in, Jazz being a gentleman, opened the passenger door for the eighteen year old. They pulled out and began to drive down the long road.

"Alright, just a note fo' ya, Ratchet w'look different if he activates his holoform." Kadence asked what he meant, "Our holoforms are programmed n' designed by him, he can change our appearance in holoform. Apparently, he's changed his. He only made his holoform look not-so-much like him so it didn't seem suspicious for ya a while back."

The ride was long, an hour had already passed. Jazz was driving in a vast meadow which soon turned into just dirt and small patches of grass. There was still paved road out in the open.

"The base we're goin' to is one out of many we have, this is our current one. Ah heard the next one we're going to is in Diego Garcia." Jazz spoke up. After he finished his sentence, a large building came into view. It was surrounded by large fences and had a big lot outside. The building looked to be a few stories high, and big enough for a variety of rooms. Jazz pulled into the gate and spoke with a soldier. The soldier signaled another soldier behind him to open the gates, which he did. The large gates unlocked and two other men pushed them open. The Pontiac continued to drive inside.

Another pair of soldiers opened larger doors to the building, Jazz waited patiently before driving on into the building.

Blinding lights from inside had greeted Jazz and Kadence, they were driving into a large hangar. There were a few catwalks with computers and large doors on each side of the room, most likely leading into more hangars. Soldiers were walking here and there, some zipping past and others casually walking.

In the middle of it all were six fancy vehicles, all perfectly lined up.

Kadence stepped out of the Solstice and the door shut behind her. Jazz transformed and knelt a moment later as Kadence gazed at the variety of cars. All their own color scheme and car.

The awe-struck adult was interrupted by a sudden call of her name and a tackle, luckily she kept her balance against the strong force, but didn't succeed in stifling a yelp in surprise. The arms let go of Kadence, she turned and her face immediately lit up, "Graham?" She quickly ruffled his hair before he could back away.

Graham was followed by an all too familiar dark skinned man. "And the only and only Epps. Of course." She gave a quick embrace before backing out and meeting face to face with Jazz.

"Do ah not getta greetin'?" It looked as though he had pouted, but it was quite hard to tell with facial features foreign to Kadence.

She smiled, "Hi Jazz."

"And ahm sure you've been waitin' to meet da team? Ya ready?"

Her smile widened, "Yeah."

Jazz stood to his full height and gestured towards the cars, "Here ya go, lil' lady. Da team of Autobots."

Noises of shifting gears and metal aginst metal filled Kadence's ears. She watched as all six of the fancy vehicles were shifting around, all forming their own shape in their own way. They were transforming.

The former Lamborghini and Corvette were both transforming into extremely similar lean figures, they both had tires instead of feet, while the red and blue semi transformed into a taller, regal figure, but at the slowest pace. The TopKick had gone into something a little shorter, but more buff. The Hummer was in the middle of the two's height. The Camaro had gone into the same form as from last time she saw him. Kadence watched closely, trying to watch all of them at the same time.

They had finished transforming and were now looking down at her. She stepped forward, "Wait, wait, wait," Kadence furrowed her eyebrows, "You're my TopKick?" She pointed towards the transformed TopKick, he smirked and slowly shook his head in reply. Kadence rolled her eyes, "Yes, you are. I know my TopKick from anywhere."

"You caught me." He knelt down, having some caring emotion filling his optics, "I've been with you for a long time, Kadence." She smiled, not only for that, but his accent. It made her feel safe inside.

Graham and Epps silently butted in, dragging Kadence over to a catwalk. They persuaded her to climb up the ladder. Epps whispered in her ear as he passed by her on the platform, "Just so you don't have to crane your neck." Graham also passed by and gave her a pat on the shoulder before continuing to walk.

Kadence recognized the voice of the TopKick, leaning over the railings, she spoke, "And you're Ironhide." He nodded. The adult looked over his cannons attached to his arms, "The weapons specialist?" He nodded once more with a smile. Kadence noticed a scar that had covered his right eye, just like his holoform.

"Okay, got one Autobot down. Four more to go. " She already knew Bumblebee and Jazz, and now Ironhide. "I think I can actually figure this out." The Autobots kept watching her calculating eyes.

"Pretty simple actually. Jazz said that there are two front-liners. And later said that they're twins." She pointed towards the look-alike Autobots, "There you go."

The silver twin smiled, while the gold one grunted, "I'm Sideswipe, and the grump here is Sunny."

"My name's Sunstreaker, not 'Sunny!'" Sunstreaker glared at his twin, who was snickering.

Kadence moved on, she looked at the transformed Hummer, "Chief Medical Officer. I mean seriously, this has to be the most obvious. 'Search and resue Hummer H2,' pretty simple."

"You are correct there." The Hummer nodded her way. Like Ironhide, she recognized the voice.

"Ratchet."

A firm hand on her shoulder turned her to its source, it was Will, and he didn't look too happy. "You're in trouble."

"What? Why?"

"You didn't greet me." She groaned as he laughed. Will was always messing with Kadence in a way she'd never expect it. He spread out his arms and she walked into them, they both did an embrace.

"Can somebody please explain to me why the hell you get injured every single time you go out on a mission?" Kadence was looking at the cuts on his face, some were stitched up and bandaged. "It's making me crazy."

Will shrugged, "That's just me, and you can't stop me." He turned her back to the Autobots.

"Anyways," She glared at her father, "The last is leader, which is you." Kadence pointed towards the tallest Autobot. They all nodded. She had easily figured out which Autobot is which.

"My name is Optimus Prime."


	7. Chapter 6

**I hope you're liking the story so far, hope the plot is interesting as well. Sooner or later, it'll get better. Make sure to leave a review if you want to! (I'm not pushing) ****I'm thinking of changing the genres to something else. I dunno how fitting family/adventure is. If you think it's fitting, great. If you don't, go ahead and suggest genres to do.**

**Okay, so this chapter is pretty much nothing but words. Sorry for that. I'm tired and I just got bored so slapped in some Decepticon plotting and Autobot conversations.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?" - Sam Witwicky, Transformers (2007)**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_July 1, 2008_

An hour later, Kadence had already gotten used to the Autobots. They all converted back into their respective vehicles and activated their holoforms. She realized each and every holoform had their clothing match their armor, which made it easier for her to figure out which is which. Kadence couldn't help but gape at how sexy each one looked. _Damn...Ratchet did a helluva good job. Almost _too_ good of a job._

Kadence couldn't help but notice Ratchet's change in holoform as Jazz had mentioned, he had a stronger, more square jaw. His hair was now red and his shirt was fluorescent yellow. His holoform matched himself better than before.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's holoforms had roller skates and Ironhide now wore a black fedora. Kadence had to compliment.

They were all sitting in a circle, Kadence and Jazz sat on a nearby table while the rest sat in chairs.

"Can you tell us what the Decepticons did to you when you were captured?" Optimus locked gazes with Kadence for a moment before she looked down to her converse, crossing her feet.

"They demanded me to tell them everything about you all. I didn't know anything about you guys at the time, they didn't believe me. They kept calling me Kardiness, too." All seven Autobots stiffened, she furrowed her brows and looked at the Prime sitting across from her, "What?"

The regal Autobot sighed, "Kardiness is a Cybertronian legend. Many considered her a myth. Like your human's Adam and Eve, she was the first female Transformer. The first male was Prima. She was one of the Seven."

"Not long ago, we had an Autobot sparkling whose name was Kardiness," Jazz finished, dropping his slang.

"What happened to her?" Kadence questioned softly, not wanting to push them. His expression had already changed into a more solemn look.

"We lost her." The team looked down in grief. A long moment of silence consumed the circle.

Kadence looked at the Prime, "So why do the Decepticons call me that? Most importantly, why are they after me?"

"Both reasons are left unknown," He took a deep breath before continuing, "But in time, we will know."

"And how do you suppose you do that?"

* * *

**:...Barricade to Starscream...:**

The Decepticon leader sighed, **:...What is it, Barricade?...:**

**:...Kardiness has gone to the Autobot base, shall I follow?...:**

**:...No...:**

**:...The Autobot guardians left their charges' homes unattended for, shall I terminate?...:**

**:...No, Barricade...:**

**:...I know where Kardiness will be in approximately six human hours, shall I capture?...:**

**:..._No_, Barricade...:** More irritation marked Starscream's voice.

**:...Then what shall I do?...:**

**:...Gather more information on Kardiness. She will be with the Autobots most of the time from now on. Do not engage...:**

**:...Copy that...:**

* * *

"Okay, I get it now." Kadence finally said after minutes of fruitless explanations. She sighed.

Will chuckled, "You alright, kiddo? Usually you understand something the first time."

The red head rubbed her hand against her forehead, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot to take in."

"We've all had worse introductions."

"I have a question," Kadence looked at Optimus, he hummed in response, "Why didn't you destroy Megatron instead of sending him into an abyss. Now I know that place is heavily guarded, but there is a possibility for something getting through." The Prime didn't respond, instead he stared at the floor in deep thought.

"That's a good question." He muttered.

Jazz bumped Kadence to grab her attention, "Now wha' would da 'Cons do wit' a dead Megatron? Dey don't have an All Spark shard. So what dey gonna do?"

"Dunno."

"Exactly. Dey can't do anythin'."

"Kadence does have a point though," Ratchet spoke, looking at the circle and crossing his legs, "There is always that possibility of it all going wrong."

"How though?" Sideswipe glanced between the holoform and human. Kadence was the first to speak.

"Well, like you all had said, the Decepticons don't know the current locations to the All Spark and Megatron. But it is possible for them to find out. They could hack. Just like they did in Qatar and Air Force One."

"They'll need to infiltrate a satellite in order to find what they're looking for." Ratchet shook his head.

"Which could be easy for them."

He raised a brow, "How so?"

She shrugged in response, "They're most likely finding more Decepticons. One of them could have the smarts to get into the satellite successfully and obtain information. _Any_ information.

"But as you explained both Megatron and Starscream; for one, I don't think the Decepticons could make up a plan good enough, and two, why would Starscream want Megatron alive again?"

"Right."

Will made a noise in disbelief and shook his head, "Gosh, you two are nothing but brains."

Kadence smiled, "Red heads may be dangerous trouble, but that doesn't mean we're not smart. Tomatoes are smart, Dad. Deal with it."

"Ah, so _now_ you're admitting to the Tomato name." Epps chuckled as Kadence groaned in defeat.

Ironhide broke the conversation, "Where is this going?" The three just shrugged.

"Probably to a point called 'Kadence wins the argument.'" She nodded, then glared at Will with a bright smile on her face as he sighs. Before the conversation could reach any farther, Kadence's phone buzzed in her jacket pocket. She groaned and pulled it out.

_"You still at NEST?"_ It was from Sam.

"Sam likes to poke his nose into my business.." She trailed off before replying with a "yes."

_"Bee and I were wondering if you'd like to hang out after you're done."_ Kadence replied with a simple "sure."

"As we were saying?" She put her phone back into her jacket.

"I don't think we were saying anything." Sunstreaker crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat.

The red head sighed, "You're hopeless. You know that?"

"Quite."

Her smile widened, "I absolutely love how you two are 'split sparks.' Which is pretty much means split personalities. Sideswipe's the positive one while Sunstreaker's the negative."

"Who said I'm negative?" The golden twin became defensive.

"Dude, your first impression was negative. You're being negative now. And in the future, you'll be negative."

"Aw, come on, Sunny. For once, don't be mean." Sunstreaker smacked his brother upside the head before grumbling that his name's not "Sunny."

Kadence laughed, "Mister Sunshine."

Sunstreaker got out of his chair and walked away, throwing his hands into the air, "I'm done!" The group laughed after him.

Jazz bumped into Kadence again, excitement growing on the girl, "You ready for a tour of da base?"

**_Note:_ Kardiness is my own character while Prima is a real Transformers character; first Transformer created by Primus. Kardiness does not relate to anything else but my imagination and overuse of making up words. ****Now, in the Revenge of the Fallen movie, we don't know who the other six Primes are. We only know The Fallen. So it's just really unofficial, which means I can make it however I want. ****And yes, I do realize that in some continuities, Solus Prime is the first female Transformer. Well, now she's pushed to the second. :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Ah, I know I said I'd give Ironhide a big part in this story, but apparently Jazz is overpowering him. We all love Jazz, yes, but I'm trying to give Ironhide a spotlight for once.**

**But chapter seven! ...Or the eighth chapter of this story if you want to include the prologue. Anyway, I'm making good progress. I'm starting to inch away from the plot I originally wanted, hopefully I can get back on track soon. ****I had already made plans for many chapters ahead, so the main plot will come in afterwards.**

**Now about the plot. It's my own plot. It only takes place during the two years between 2007 and 2009. Then the plot will continue on after Revenge of the Fallen. I'm speaking ahead, that's far from now.**

**Plot, plot, plot. I'm sure you guys aren't interested in that, the things I'm saying. Or the things I'm saying in any of these author notes, but to anyone who is actually _reading_ these, you are one dedicated reader. And I thank you. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"More than meets the eye" - G1**

* * *

**Chapter Se****ven**

_July 1, 2008_

Kadence hopped off the table and followed Jazz.

Sideswipe decided to tag along in the tour of the base. Speeding ahead on his skates just to show off. Jazz had started with the main hangar, which was where Kadence had been for the past hour or two.

"We have conferences and plotting here, we also come here to just talk with soldiers. It's most likely the room we all go in the most." Sideswipe had said.

Soldiers opened the door for him, Kadence and Jazz to step through. There was a short corridor, having only one door on each side. But it was tall and wide.

"De left door is de Autobot quarters, while de right is fo' de humans," He gestured to both large doors, then pointed to an even larger one ahead, "This one, leads to our training room."

Sideswipe pulled the door open enough for them to fit through. They walked into the huge hangar. It was full of targets, both for humans and Autobots. There was caution tape on the ground to keep people on the safe side. There were a few humans shooting a few bullets, practicing their aim.

"These doors," Jazz walked across the hangar to the other set of large double doors, "Leads to the outside."

Again, the two had opened the doors for them to fit through. Outside had a huge lot. All of it being asphalt. Some areas were a bit cracked, even more so nearby set up targets. "Out here is where we chill. Sometimes training is here." The perimeter was completely fenced off by regular wire fences. Beyond the fences was a dense forest, cicadas were heard from across the large lot.

Heat had already hit Kadence's face the moment she stepped out, she mumbled her complaint.

"Race you guys to the other doors!" Sideswipe pointed to the next pair double doors before racing off.

Kadence shrugged, "Maybe we can beat him." Jazz smirked before sprinting off, the red head following close behind.

Sideswipe had reached the doors way before both Jazz and Kadence reached. They were both breathing heavily. The girl bent down, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "No fair..." She paused to inhale, "You have skates on."

The silver Autobot simply laughed, he pulled one of the doors open. It took a while for Kadence's eyes to adjust to the inside light. The doors led to another corridor, same size and layout.

"The door ahead of us leads back to the main room." Sideswipe pointed towards the end of the corridor.

"In here, is da mess hall," Jazz glanced at Kadence, he could tell she wanted to go in, "Ya wanna go get somethin' t'snack on?" She nodded, Jazz opened the door for her and gestured her in.

The red head walked in, noted how, like all the other rooms, it was large and tall. There were tables taking up a majority of the room, to her right she found the lunch line.

She strode through the cafe, noises from the kitchen behind could be heard. There was a lady setting up fruit in the baskets, stacking them neatly. The lady smiled as Kadence came up to her. "Would you like something, dear?"

"May I have an apple?" The red head smiled as the woman grabbed an apple out of the stack and tossed it to Kadence. The lady picked a nice plump red one, Kadence took a bite of the apple. She let her eyes wander around the cafe before she said her thanks and skipped on out.

Jazz and Sideswipe were waiting at the doors directly across the mess hall. Jazz called her over and opened the door for her. "An apple, huh? Ratchet would approve, for once." They laughed before walking in.

"This is da med bay. Ole Ratchet the Hatchet likes t'hang here." The Hummer was parked nearby, his holoform standing in front of it with a wrench in his hand. Jazz leaned over to Kadence and whispered, "Just dun get on his bad side. He likes wrenches."

"Noted," She muttered back.

* * *

Bumblebee's Camaro was waiting outside the base for Kadence. Sam was inside, also waiting. At the sight of Kadence walking out the doors, Bumblebee's passenger door opened. The red head hopped in and the Camaro drove out.

"So how was it?"

"Fine. Why?"

"_Did the doctor see you?_" A radio clip played, Kadence nodded in response. _"Any wrenches?"_ She shook her head.

"Lucky. He's hit everyone and anyone who comes onto base with a wrench, especially the Autobots. Apparently, you didn't." He sighed, then broke out laughing, "Everyone's face when they get hit. It's priceless." Kadence chuckled.

An hour later, they arrived at a field. It was getting dark. The field was far from any lights, which meant more stars could be seen. Kadence had stayed at the base longer than she had expected, more than six hours.

A 1972 Dodge Challenger pulled up next to Bumblebee. Mikaela was driving.

She shut off the engine and got out of the car. Bumblebee did the same, shutting himself off and activating his holoform.

"Like the car I'm working on?" She smiled as they nodded. The black Challenger was nicely polished, the barely visible stars and sunset were reflecting off of it. It looked amazing.

"It's almost done, just have to buff out a few things then send it back."

"It looks nice," Sam nods in approval.

Kadence walks up to the front and opens the hood, "Wow. This is one crazy engine." She scans the twin turbo V8 engine, it was a similar concept to Bumblebee's. "What was the problem with this one?"

"Clogged cylinders, rusted parts, stubborn pistons, engine wouldn't start. It was pretty much broken down." She sighed, "I had a friend help me repaint it."

The red head couldn't help but notice the angry aura the car sent off. It looked angry too, bad ass even. She smiled and closed the hood.

* * *

_July 2, 2008_

Jade wiggled in her seat, trying to get comfortable. She huffed in annoyance, "Why do these seats have to be so freaking uncomfortable?"

"You know Mom's rules, Jade, you can't say that word."

"But you say it all the time!"

Kadence chuckled, "That's 'cause I'm older." She took a sip of her coffee. It was nine in the morning and Kadence had promised to take Jade out to eat.

"I don't like being the youngest," The blonde crossed her arms and huffed.

The red head across her set down her cup, "But that's the good thing, Jade. Being the youngest means you can learn more from your older siblings. I know you look up to us."

Jade popped a fry into her mouth, chewing it oddly to avoid letting the hot food touch her tongue, "What's it like being the oldest?"

"I guess you could say difficult," She took another sip of her coffee, "I have to take care of you guys when Mom and Dad are at work. Plus, I have some experiences first, so I get no advice like you would usually get."

"Oh," The eight year old ate another fry, then took a big gulp out of her soda cup. The two became silence. Jade continued to eat her food while Kadence drank her coffee, her sleepiness fading away.

A man walked into the door, his hands slipping into his pockets. He began to scan the cafe. Kadence waved her hand and called him over. Jade drank her soda and watched in curiosity as he sat down next to the red head.

"Ironhide, I'm sure you've heard about my little sister, Jade," Kadence smiled, "Jade, this is Ironhide. He works with Dad."

"Hi," She said shyly, burying her face into her soda straw. She looked up again, "I like your hat."

He smiled, "Want to try it on?" Jade's face lit up and asked if she could. Ironhide handed it to the eight year old. Kadence chuckled as her little sister put on the hat, it was far to big for her. The red head ruffled Ironhide's hair to mess it up more, he shrank away from her, complaining. Jade giggled.

"So, any magpie sightings?" Kadence leaned against the window. The team had accepted on using the word "magpie" as a code name for Decepticons. It sounded odd, but was better than saying the actual name.

"None."

Jade absently sipped her soda, not paying attention to the conversation. Instead, she was looking outside. Watching the cars as they pass by. A police car drove past, it didn't look like regular ones that she usually saw. It looked different. The colors were differently placed too. She recalled Kadence calling a car that looked similar to that a "Mustang," but she wasn't sure.

It was gone before Jade could ask about it.


	9. Chapter 8

**This chapter took a lot of researching to do. Almost killed my laptop going to so many pages with so many tabs open at once. So yes, I looked up a lot of techniques and did some researching on them and lastly used them in here. So yes, they are real techniques used by real people.**

**Well, I guess you'll understand what I'm talking about if you read this chapter. Carry on!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter! :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers**

**"What is the meaning of this?" - Sideswipe, Revenge of the Fallen**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_July 3, 2008_

Jazz's holoform ran up to the chatting girls, they immediately stopped their conversation and looked at Jazz. He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, "Ratchet needs ya both. I dunno why, he just said fo' me ta get ya." He rubbed the back of his head and muttered a curse.

Both Kadence and Mikaela hopped off their chairs and started to walk towards the med bay. "Thanks Jazz," The red head said as she passed by the Autobot. He nodded and disabled the holoform.

"So you say that he just...looked at you like that?" Mikaela continued their conversation, keeping her voice low, "I know Ironhide, and I know he doesn't look at anyone like that. Not even your dad, and they're pretty close. He's always this tough Autobot, barely cracks a smile." They went through the door that led to the med bay's corridor.

Kadence laughed, "That's a little ironic. He smiled a few times when I met him and the Autobots."

The brunette gasped, "What if he's into you?" Kadence playfully pushed her friend away from her with a "no way."

"We only just met. How can he like me already?"

"He did say he's been with you 'for a long time.' And who knows how long that is."

They entered the med bay. Ratchet's holoform was activated and hovered over Sideswipe's silver Corvette. He didn't bother glancing at who had walked in, "You better not be back in here, Jazz!"

"Actually it's Kadence and Mikaela." The brunette said as Ratchet retracted his hand, which was about to grab his handy wrench.

The medic stopped his work on Sideswipe and looked at the girls, "Can I ask you a favor? Both of you?" They nodded, "Can you fix Sunstreaker? I'm in a little bit of need for more hands."

"Sure," Mikaela turned to the red head, "Kadence, are you _really_ good with cars?"

"Not as good as you, but yes, I'm a little good with them." The two walked over to Sunstreaker, who was also transformed as his Lamborghini. It had dents and scratches. Lots of them.

Mikaela looked over the alt. mode, "God, what happened?"

"One of their training sessions," Ratchet chuckled from his position in Sideswipe's hood. "Their training is pretty rough. Especially when they're with Ironhide or Jazz, or worse both..." He trailed off, his gaze falling to a distant place before snapping back to the girls, "But don't worry, it's just part of my daily routine. Tools should be right next to you."

They looked to their right, and found a cart of tools. "Alright, Sunstreaker, you want us to repair then repaint you, or are you gonna repaint yourself?"

A grumble came from the car's radio, "I wouldn't be in here if I didn't want you to."

"Okay then, open up." The back of the Aventador opened on command, revealing the twin turbo V12 engine.

Sunstreaker spoke again through the radio, "I'm not sure if there is anything wrong with the engine."

"Ratchet's working on your twin's engine, I'm just making sure." Mikaela inspected the complex engine, Kadence was testing a banged up cylinder.

"That's only because I kicked his ass."

"Oh look, a cylinder. And a piston. They won't work." Kadence smirked as the golden Autobot sighed in defeat.

Minutes passed and both Kadence and Mikaela fixed the cylinder, two broken pistons and a dented exhaust pipe, Mikaela finishing with a "I told you so" look.

"So there wasn't much wrong with the engine, good," The red head laughed, "But look at the exterior." Sunstreaker huffed in annoyance.

"We'll have to remove some of the paint in order to fix these dents." Mikaela cocked her hip and placed a hand on it.

"What!" Sunstreaker exclaimed, "I'm not letting you ruin my paint!"

Kadence crossed her arms, "Dude, it's already jacked up."

Mikaela grabbed an orbital sander, which had eighty-grit sandpaper on it. She began on a dent which was placed on the Aventador's driver door. Kadence worked on another dent, which was on his hood. They finished removing the paint in minutes.

"We'll make this simple." Mikaela began to make a polyester resin, mixing it until it became an odd light pink color. She rubbed the mixture onto the dent, overloading it and making sure not to get it on the paint. Kadence watched before the brunette handed her the mixture to use.

The two sanded and applied the mixture smoothly over every visible dent, with the help of Sunstreaker pointing out where dents were.

"Now to wait for it to dry."

"How long's that going to take?"

"About half an hour."

Sunstreaker groaned impatiently. It had already been half an hour since the two girls began working on him. Now they needed to wait another thirty minutes.

Ratchet was using his own technique to fix the dents, which Sideswipe had much more of. The silver Autobot was more beaten up than Sunstreaker was, which gave Ratchet more work then Kadence and Mikaela.

The half hour passed slowly, but when it did, the brunette grabbed one hundred-twenty grit sandpaper and began to smooth the surface.

"Where are you getting the sandpaper?" Sunstreaker grumbled from the radio.

Mikaela shrugged, "Ratchet has a lot of stuff in here." She continued to sand down all the splotches of hardened mixture.

Once the splotches were sanded down to perfection, which took more than ten minutes, Kadence announced that it was time for the repainting.

They removed the paint down to bare metal, and they cleaned it. Scrubbing away any problems. Both girls had trouble reaching the middle of Sunstreaker's hood, and everyone knows that will cause many problems. Kadence forced the golden Autobot to clean it himself, he grumbled and washed himself.

They put masking tape and a cover on trim so that no paint will get on it while the Autobot was still cleaning. The two girls started with the hood of the car. They applied primer and carefully sanded it to smoothness again. They finished making sure the primer was cured and no flaws were to be seen.

They sprayed the paint on. Sunstreaker clearly shivering at the sudden spray. They covered the hood with a thin layer and waited until it dried, which took too long for Sunstreaker's liking.

Again, they sanded the hood and applied polish to the gold paint. It cured in no time, but still too long for the Autobot's liking.

As other parts of the car were drying, they began on new parts, going one by one until they were completely finished.

"You're so impatient," Kadence said as she cleaned the car, "I'm sure it takes just as long when you do it."

The two girls finished and took a step back to inspect their work. Not a dent to be seen. No flaws. It was perfect.

Ratchet had finished the same time they did, giving Sideswipe the all clear that he could go. The medic walked over to the two and dismissed the impatient Sunstreaker.

"You did better than I thought," He watched the gold Aventador drive through the doors and out the corridor.

"Where did you learn, Kadence?"

The medic and brunette looked at her, "Well, I used to have a black Dakota, and I would be the one to fix it. I was supposed to own it when I got my driver's license, but it disappeared a few months before Mission."

Mikaela displayed a sad smiled, "What kind of Dakota?"

"1996 V8 Magnum."

"Wow, you don't see those around anymore."

* * *

The two girls walked out to the main hangar to find the Autobots and soldiers admiring Sunstreaker's paint job, as always. But as they walked closer, they could hear even Sunstreaker admiring it. Mikaela and Kadence smiled, knowing that their plan to surprise the Autobot had worked.

The golden Autobot was no longer just golden. His Aventador was white and had a large golden stripe running over his hood, running all the way to the back. His trim was golden and skillfully painted. The stripe had taken up a third of his hood before smoothly ascending into a stripe that expanded to the window trim. Sunstreaker transformed, the stripe still running over the middle of his body. His hands were golden while his arms were white, with a simple gold streak. Sunstreaker's legs were white with a bit of gold running along the edges, the wheels looked the same but were complimented by the colors. He looked amazing, almost better than before.

Sunstreaker spotted Mikaela from across the room, his tone was surprisingly jolly, "You never said you would make a few modifications."

"It was Kadie's idea," the brunette stepped aside to expose Kadence, who was walking behind her and hidden from everyone's view. All attention turned to her.

"Well, I, uh, just thought it'd, uh, look nice," she stuttered, blushed and subtly slipped behind Mikaela again.

"It does looks nice," Sunstreaker smiled, for once. Kadence slipped a strand of her red hair behind her ear and looked down, trying to nod to make it less awkward, her blush deepened. She shifted under the Autobots' gazes and cursed. _Damn it, I'm dying here!_

Kadence prodded Mikaela's heel with her own foot, sending the message. And she received it.

"Okay, well, we'll be on our way now," Mikaela chuckled before walking off, her friend following close behind. Her blush still in place.

"I can't believe we actually did that...I mean, we shouldn't have done that. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are such cocky 'bots. What do you think Sunstreaker was thinking the entire time we were washing him? Indulging himself while two pretty girls climb all over him?" Kadence rambled, after a moment of silence, they both broke out laughing. Unaware that everyone heard.

**The Dodge Dakota is dedicated to _my_ Dakota, which is also a 1996 V8 Magnum. I saved it from being sent off a few years back by telling my dad I wanted it as my first car.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Phew, okay so I had said all the New Life chapters are safe on my laptop, and I almost got a heart attack figuring out that I only had four out of the fourty-five chapters on it. So I looked on my computer, and thank you anyone out there, that I had almost every single one there. The only chapters I'm missing are two, eight, nine and ten.**

**Before, I had only found four...Reverse that. Now I'm missing four. Never fear! I will search every nook and cranny in my computer and laptop!**

**And I promise, all the chapters on safe on my flash drive. All fourty-one of them + the plot scaffold.**

**So last school year, a group of friends and I loved to play a certain sport all the time. We wanted to win the sport tournament our grade had at the end of the year. Sadly, the tournament was cancelled. But our passion for the sport lives on.**

**Because that sport brings me to my happy place, and FanFiction brings me to my happy place (seriously, I love you all), I decided to COMBINE! This chapter is going to be about the sport. You'll see and hopefully enjoy!**

**"Jazz: We'll be right back! Just don't move.**

**Omega Supreme: Sarcasm not appreciated." - G1**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_July 5, 2008_

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's holoforms were racing around the paved field. So far, Sideswipe was winning by a few inches. Both twins had their differences, even in skating. Sideswipe was smoother while Sunstreaker was sharp.

Kadence was one of the few that were rooting for Sunstreaker, even though this was a simple race around.

Sunstreaker went a lot faster at the last second, surpassed his brother and crossed the finish line. He spun around to slow himself down for his twin to catch up. In mere seconds, Sideswipe crossed the line with a pout. The golden Autobot laughed, saying how fun that was.

"After so many vorns, I _still_ can't beat you!" Sideswipe panted, only making his brother laugh more.

"That's 'cause I'm better," he teased. Skating away from his brother to join the crowd.

How the twins can have skates for shoes will always be a mystery to Kadence. But she assumed it would most likely feel weird if they weren't wearing skates, since their bipedal modes literally have tires for feet.

It'd be like people wearing skates when they have barely any experience with the wheels. They'd be wobbly, and most likely fall. Just the other way around in the Terror Twin's case.

"Hey Kade," A feminine voice called out to her. The red head turned her head in response, watching as Sideswipe retreated to the crowd. Mikaela walked up to her and talked low so no one else can hear, "What do you say we challenge the Autobots to a game of kickball? I know you love the sport. You're practically a pro at it."

The adult thought about it, then smirked, "I bet we could win."

"Good, let's go!" Mikaela grabbed her hand and pulled her through the groups of people. "I already asked your dad, Bobby, Graham and Sam. They're playing if the Autobots will join."

"Will you play?"

"Nope. You will." She displayed a toothy grin before stopping in front of the Autobots. She let Kadence's hand go.

Mikaela easily grabbed the Autobots' attention, save for Ratchet, who was leaning against the base wall alone. "We're wondering if you guys would like to play kickball." She simply said.

"Ya mean you're challengin' us?" Jazz crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his left foot.

"More like a scrimmage." Kadence glared at Sunstreaker, who always thought that offering a friendly game to him would mean challenging him.

Sideswipe skated forward, and brought his fist to his palm, "You're on."

The news of the "scrimmage" quickly spread throughout the large group. Someone had grabbed five cones to mark the bases. Two to mark the home base line while the other three cones were simply used to indicate where the other bases were.

Since they had access to the World Wide Web, the Autobots had quickly learned the rules. Which took a little bit of explanation towards Kadence, who had become lost in the process.

Optimus had volunteered as the Autobots' pitcher while Mikaela decided she will help, by pitching also. Neither of them would be kickers, much to everyone's disappointment. And even more disappointment came when Ratchet claimed he wouldn't be playing either.

The team of Autobots was small, but even with the human team. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Jazz, Sunstreaker and Ironhide all agreed to play. Took a lot of convincing from the crowd just to get Ironhide out there. Let alone Sunstreaker.

The blue team, humans, were kicking first while the red team, Autobots, were on the outfield. Sideswipe occupied the first base, Bumblebee on second and Jazz on third. Ironhide and Sunstreaker were way behind the second base, in the center positions.

Kadence was third to kick. Will and Sam in front of her with Graham and Epps behind. Optimus pitched the ball, and it smoothly rolled to Will. He bunted and ran, the ball whisping past the Prime pitcher. But before he reached first base, Ironhide's holoform caught the ball.

Out.

Will groaned and turned back towards home base. Optimus pitched the ball again, it rolled out of his right hand and onto the pavement, subtly bouncing a few times before quickly rolling towards Sam. He looked ready.

But alas, he was no where near ready, for he had kicked the ball and it went to the right, behind first base. It was a foul. But Sideswipe, being the quick ass he is, caught it.

And yet again, was an out.

No progress has been made. One more out and the blue team would switch with the red team. And who knew how good the Autobots were at kicking and how good the blue team were at catching.

Kadence backed up a few paces from the invisible line the two cones made. The crowd to the right was cheering, cheering for her. For her not to get out, that is. _Not in a million years_, she sighed and nodded to Optimus, who returned the same message. He pitched.

The ball rolled swiftly towards Kadence. She didn't take her eyes off the ball as she focused on where it was going, if it would swerve a little off to the side or not. And where she was going to kick it. She knew exactly where, but she had to angle her foot quickly. When swinging, a foot can falter and hit the ball at the wrong angle. That's where Sam went wrong.

The red head lurched forward when the ball was within a foot of the base line. She used her right foot to kick it hard. It bunted high and long and she jogged. Ran. Sprinted towards first base. The ball was just descending as she reached first base. She kept going, hearing every cheer from the crowd getting louder.

Her hand tapped the second base, she dared to look at where the ball was, and saw it had slipped out of Sunstreaker's grasp. She hesitated before continuing to run. By the time she made it to third base, the ball would be heading towards her. She knew to stop if the ball was near, or to keep running if they attempted to get her out, but missed. But they didn't. Instead, the ball was thrown to Jazz a second too late. He passed it to Optimus.

Kadence was safe.

And hopefully Epps wouldn't get her out.

Optimus pitched, Epps kicked and ran. Kadence ran. The ball headed towards her. Epps had accidentally kicked it towards her. It was descending fast, it was going to land where she was going. She jerked to the right before it hit her. Instead, it hit the ground. The red head ran faster. She knew Jazz had his hands on the ball and was about to throw it to her.

She was so close to the home base! One more step! She crossed the invisible line the two cones made. She made it. The crowd cheered for her. Kadence skid to a stop, and arched her back when she felt the ball hitting her back. Jazz had thrown it. Sooner than she expected. She winced as she felt a numb pain in her back, then laughed.

Epps was still running. He passed second base, almost knocking over the cone. Sideswipe skated over to where the ball was rolling, towards him. He picked it up, threw it back to Jazz, where Epps was currently heading. The actions were so quick that Kadence had trouble following the red kickball.

The cheers became louder as the chance of getting to third base was becoming slimmer. Epps was a few steps away, and the ball was a few feet from Jazz's open hands. It was too late. Kadence covered her face and groaned as she heard the word "out" being called out from the crowd. She peeked out from her fingers to see the score. Zero to one. The blue team was winning. But not for long.

The transition from the home base to the outfield was quick and easy. Kadence had taken the left center position in the outfield, where Sunstreaker was. She counted ten paces backwards, remembering the advice, "it's better to run forwards than backwards." It was a simple task.

Sunstreaker was the first to kick. Mikaela pitched the ball, and surprisingly, his skates were able to kick the ball. It flew past Mikaela, to the left. Where Kadence was standing, fixing her hair.

The red head quickly discarded her hair and brought her hands out to catch the fast moving ball, which hasn't hit the ground yet. The ball landed in her hands, slipped out and hit her in the face. Hard. She rubbed her cheek after regaining control over the ball. "Oi, Sunstreaker! Lay off on the Red Bull! Will ya?" She shouted at the retreating Autobot. He was out. The crowd cheered. Kadence threw the ball back to Mikaela.

The game of kickball had continued for another hour and a half. The game was going to end when each player has kicked five times. Points were slowly growing. Everyone tried their best to get a point. Or even to first base. And that was obviously deemed difficult.

Kadence was the kicker. Will made a home run while Sam was at second base. The score was fourteen to thirteen. The blue team was losing. By just one point. This was the last kick. If Sam were to get out, that would be two outs for the blue team. If Kadence got out, that would mean they lost. She had to get Sam to home base, and herself.

Optimus waited patiently as Kadence fixed her hair, strands had come out and the hair tie had loosened to the point where it had fallen out the last time she kicked. She back up a few paces and nodded towards Prime, who was ready to pitch. He nodded back and rolled the ball.

Kadence's heart pounded hard in her chest, she had a hint of sweat on her forehead, her legs were pumped. Ready to run. Adrenaline flushed through her veins as soon as the ball connected with the ground and rolled towards her.

_Concentrate_, she said in her mind. As much as she wanted to, she had to pay no heed to the crowd, her team wishing her luck, or the nervous stares she was getting. The suspense was all too real. Time seemed to slow as the ball made its way towards her.

She lowered her body, and lurched forward. Kadence gave it her all. Putting her mightiest kick into it. The ball flew high and far into the air just like the first bunt. The strong kick made its speed quicker than any other kick she has done. Without even noticing, Kadence began to ran, her eyes following the ball. She looked down at its target and spotted Ironhide's open hands. He was going to catch it. Screaming in her head to continue, the red head hesitated on first base before sprinting forward at the command of her team. The ball slipped right through Ironhide's hands and hit the ground. She was lucky to have this happen twice already. And she was grateful.

Sam had made it home with ease. The score was fourteen to fourteen.

The adult kept running, letting her hand hit second base. Her body turned to head for third base, where Jazz was waiting. He gave her a smile. It wasn't his usual friendly smile. It was devilish. He knew something was coming. Kadence glanced behind her and stifled a squeal in panic. The ball was heading towards her. Quickening her sprint, her hand hit the third base. She waited for the ball to hit the ground. And it did and bounced away.

"Keep going! Keep going! Come home!" She heard the cheers of her team as the game became more intense. Jazz sped after the runaway ball. It didn't get that far, which made Kadence uneasy about continuing to run.

The cheers became frantic, once again, the ball was thrown towards her. Towards home base. She panicked. Kadence swiftly twisted her body to the left to land on her side and slide to the first home base cone.

She winced as she felt the asphalt against her elbow and knees, her hip landing a little roughly on the pavement. Her foot pushed the cone. She was safe.

The crowd went wild. Cheering. Kadence felt the ball hit her leg and bounce away. She rested her sweaty head on the ground and let out a heavy sigh of relief. Her breathing was ragged and heavy. She was exhausted.

Jazz ran over to grab the ball, securing it with his arm on his side, he held out his free hand to Kadence. They smiled. Smiled their friendly grins. He pulled her up with ease.

The game of kickball was a challenge. It was a hot day, the Autobots were too damn good and the humans were also too damn good.

All in all, it was fun.

* * *

**:...Lord Starscream...:**

**:...Report, Barricade...:**

**:...Kardiness is becoming attached to the Autobots. When shall we make a move?...:**

**:...When I say so...:**

**:...And will when you say so?...:**

**:...When we have an opening. When the Autobots aren't protecting her. And I don't care how long that takes! Continue to learn more about this femme and wait until my next command...:**

**:...Yes, Lord Starscream...:**

* * *

**A/N: **I need to know your guys' opinions. Should I post New Life again for everyone to view? Well, I mean, when I find the missing four chapters (if I do), do you want me to post all of the chapters for all you new viewers to know what's going on and the old viewers to just have fun with the former plot?

Please let me know.


	11. Chapter 10

**I just realized how much Aftershock is like Lost (You'll see why in the near future) I just find it crazy how the two stories are inching towards each other...I'll try my best to make them sound much different...but ack! Why must the plots be oh-so similar? .**

**So, I dunno how good this chapter seems to be...I kind of accidentally didn't save it when I typed...and I had about 2,000 words already typed...and I lost it all. Help me...I'm dying.**

**I have a feeling every chapter has its own hiatus. I'm really sorry for that. I'm trying my best but so much has been going on. I have even more schoolwork than usual, I'm once again, working on too many things at once.**

**Ah, and one more tiny thing. Please pay close attention to the dates written in italics. This'll be an odd chapter...**

**And happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Sometimes even the wisest of man or machine can make an error." - Optimus Prime, G1**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

_May 3, 1994_

A small four year old girl clutched her stuffed animal against her chest. Both arms were completely wrapped around the fuzzy leopard. Her terrified eyes darted around the car's interior. She flinched every time a flash engulfed her vision. The ground rumbled as thunder boomed in her ears. The constant harsh _pitter-patter_ of the heavy rain didn't help her case.

She whined as another bright flash blinded her and thunder deafened her.

"Don't worry, darling. We'll be back before you know it," A soothing woman's voice distracted the girl. But as soon as she stopped speaking, the boom of thunder and blasts of lightning came back.

The wiper blades were working furiously to keep the rain from blocking the windshield to no avail. The rain was falling faster than the wiper blades could sweep.

The red of traffic lights filled the two's eyes. The car ceased to move. Rain began to hit even harder, the girl clutched her stuffed leopard harder, for the animal was the only thing that gave her comfort at the moment.

The traffic lights didn't change for another few minutes. Traffic was horrible during rain. Lucky for them, the rain was beginning to cease. The blackened sky was progressively changing to a light grey. The light turned green and the car moved forward in a slow gradual speed.

The screech of tires was faintly heard over the rain before another car t-boned into their's. Something hit her jaw, and hit it hard. The sound of glass shattering over the girl was all she heard before she felt dizzy and crushed. Screaming, she realized the vehicle was flipping over and over...and over.

Finally, it came to a stop. On its tires. Everything was smashed inside the car. The girl's ears were ringing. Her skin stung and it felt wet. She couldn't feel her jaw.

The only things audible, were the sirens of help. Turning her head ever so slightly, she found her stuffed animal. Her tiny hand met the paw of the leopard and she pulled it towards her, and hugged it.

She went limp.

* * *

_July 6, 2008_

"Kadence!" Mikaela's sharp voice snapped the red head out of her thoughts. The two girls locked gazes. "Who do you keep staring at?"

Kadence turned her head to the small group of Autobot holoforms. Her eyes caught onto the medic. "Ratchet."

"...Why?"

The red head looked back to Mikaela, "He's really familiar."

"Yeah, he operated on you."

"No...No. I have a feeling I've seen him before. Before the operation." Again, she looked at Ratchet, "I just don't know where I've seen him from."

A soldier came through the doors, Will following close behind. They were heading towards the Autobots. All attention was to them as the soldier shouted, "We've got an Autobot entering the atmosphere!"

From across the hangar, they heard them speak of the coordinates. In minutes, soldiers and a few Autobots, Optimus, Ratchet and Sideswipe, moved out to find the landing.

"Come on Kadence, the landing isn't that far. We should see it from here." Mikaela pulled her along.

* * *

_January 17, 1995_

"No! No! Don't let them take me!" The five year old screamed in the grasp of a man. The two foster parents were sympathetic, but nonetheless let her go. "Let go of me! Help!" She continued to scream as she was shoved into a black SUV.

The girl was thought to be insane after telling people about how her father and friends were giant alien robots. People kept thinking that it was because of the car accident that her beliefs became messed up.

The small five year old was put into a cell full of cushions. The walls, ceiling and floor. All cushions. She cried into her stuffed animal, which luckily, she still had with her. The side of it was sewn by her foster mother after a shard of glass had cut through it in the accident.

Doctors had said that the stuffed animal saved her from being stabbed by that same piece of glass if it wasn't there. Now the girl thinks the leopard is for luck. But it hasn't brought her anywhere since.

The girl brought her head up from her knees, which were pressed against her chest.

"We can't let her run around like a mindless child, telling people about NBEs."

"She doesn't know about NBE-1 though."

"Doesn't mean we should let her know. Or let her go. We need to train her to forget about them."

"...She must be thinking this is an asylum. Don't you feel sorry for her?"

"..."

"..."

"No."

The passing conversation faded off, the girl in the corner put her head back into her knees.

She shook with sobs.

* * *

_July 6, 2008_

The Autobots and soldiers reappeared an hour later. The landing of the Autobot was seen from the base. A white object flew down to the earth, and landed with a faint _thud_.

Behind Optimus' semi, was a blue Chevy Volt.

The Autobots gathered around to greet the Volt. Ironhide's TopKick drove from behind Kadence and transformed next to her. In acknowledgement, the two exchanged nods, and a smile. Mikaela bumped Kadence in a teasing manner.

The Volt slowly transformed, for he had only had the alt. mode for not even a couple hours. His form was no taller than Bumblebee's. Less lean, but quite similar to Bee.

"Autobots," Optimus had started by grabbing everyone's attention, "We welcome Jolt."

**Little leopard stuffed animal is dedicated to mine from when I was a kid. Unfortunately, he didn't save my life and what-not. All he does is sit at my desk. Staring into my soul...**


	12. Chapter 11

**There was a guest who had reviewed twice on my story, giving me information I already know. ****I have to say, the tone of voice the guest used was indicating I wasn't smart, like he/she was doubting my knowledge. ****I'm a little irritated that I cannot reply to the guest directly. To give him/her all I've got. So I am posting it here.**

**To your first review on chapter two, I know Ironhide dies, but that doesn't change him from being one of the main characters in this fan fiction. And secondly, where did Crosshairs come from? If I had mentioned him and I'm being completely oblivious, okay. I know he's Australian, I know when he appears. But still. _Irrelevant_.**

**And to your second review on chapter five, I know Starscream dies in DOTM. And yes I have seen the movie. I've seen all four Transformer movies about five times each and I'm pretty damn aware who dies, who lives, who disappears, who appears, or who isn't even in the movies. I would very much like it if you reread your review to ensure it doesn't sound so...offensive. In my perspective, it's way over that.**

**Thank you guest, but please read carefully, take it into consideration, think twice and the information you provided is not necessary.**

**Happy holidays to those of you who celebrate! I presume this will be the last chapter of 2015. Happy new year as well! Who knows what awaits in 2016? And I forgot to mention. This story (Technically, it was posted, but not started) on November seventh. So it's a year old! :O**

**I got a new laptop for Christmas, so hopefully I'll be able to type more with this awesome new Windows 10 beast :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.**

**"Hot Rod: This is ridiculous. Doesn't he know who we are?**

**Kup: Maybe we should get a new P.R. man."** **\- G1**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

_July 14, 2008_

Ironhide grabbed Kadence's wrist, which held a stake, and flipped the red head onto her back. Maneuvering his way to grab the stake, he pinned her down and held the stake above her chest. Both were breathing heavily and stayed in that position for a few moments. Their sweaty faces were just inches apart.

Kadence closed her eyes in attempt to ease her breathing. But failed as she felt Ironhide watching her. Her face flushed even more. She didn't move, nor did he. The read head's grasp left his wrist and her arm fell above her head, resulting in a forfeit.

The holoform triumphantly sat up, hesitating for a few seconds before hauling himself off of her. She could hear his footsteps fade, before they came back. The Autobot tossed a wet cloth onto her face. He smiled as she groaned and tiredly grabbed the cloth and sat up.

It had become hot, Kadence had cargo pants on, a tank top and her sweater was tied around her waist. Both had socks on, their shoes pushed off to the side. Ironhide's fedora rested beside his shoes, as did his black leather jacket. He too wore cargo pants with a tight fitting t-shirt.

"You sure you've never had previous experiences?" He glanced at her before shoving his face into his own cloth. The red head only grunted in response, causing Ironhide to chuckle under his breath.

"If you mean experiencing the pain of losing," Kadence paused, "Then, yes."

The holoform shook his head with a more audible chuckle. Kadence had loved Ironhide's laugh, it was always warm and welcoming.

"Aw, c'mon Kade. Let's turn those experience from losin', ta winnin'." Jazz held out his hand for her to grab, which she gladly accepted. Jazz paused before announcing "Hatchet" and Jolt need him in the med bay. They bid their farewells. Ironhide's eyes watched Jazz's holoform walk out the door of the training room. Kadence caught this and smirked.

She walked off of the mats and over to Ironhide, she ran a hand across his back, and in a teasing tone, she said, "Aw, 'Hide's jealous of Jazz that he got to be a gentleman and help me up? Poor Ironhide."

Kadence tried her best not to laugh as she watched Ironhide's face blush. She never thought a cliché would go vise versa. The Autobot subtly hid his face in the cloth, hiding his now red face. Kadence placed her hand on his shoulder and used the other one to bright the cloth away from his face. She smiled at the sight of his revealed jealousy.

"Wanna go again?"

He glared at her and she couldn't help but laugh this time. Taking that as a no, she looked around. "I love how nobody else is in here every time there's a mission." A majority of the base leaves for big missions. This time, the mission's in Italy.

The Autobot nodded, "So that we won't get distracted."

"Or draw in a crowd." Kadence spotted his TopKick and changed the subject, "You know what you really need?" He hummed in response, the red head pointed towards the massive truck, "A wash."

"Are you suggesting you wash me?"

"No. I'm suggesting you need to wash yourself," Kadence laughed as she thought about it, "I get that you're a car n' all. But it's just like how we wash ourselves in a shower. You can wash yourself with a hose. I don't need to do it."

"Loser of next round has to wash me."

"Fine."

The pair walked back onto the mats and slid into their positions. "After you," Ironhide smiled as she shook her head, not wanting to go first. That was the mistake of the entire fight with Ironhide, whoever goes first, loses. Every time. And usually, that was her. "Catching on quickly, I see?"

Ironhide lunged. Both had their ups and downs when fighting. The brute was all strength, while Kadence was all agility. And with that agility, Kadence dodged and jabbed her elbow into the holoform's back, stunning him before she swung her leg, catching onto his ankles and bringing him down. She placed her foot onto his back, and stood triumphant.

"Hmm, looks like you need a nice, good wash," Kadence stretched and smiled, "Hop to it then, 'Hide."

The Autobot muttered his curses as he shuffled his feet over to the TopKick. Kadence took a swig of her water before smiling brightly at the glaring Ironhide. He washed himself, spitting out more curses Kadence hadn't even imagined existed.

"Oh, stop it. You're just being a sore loser," the red head walked over to where he was. She took the hand he was holding the sponge with and showed him how to wash, "'Wax on, wax off.'"

Kadence stared at how big his hands were to hers. Her skin tone was a tad bit lighter than his tanned skin. The red head released his hand and walked over to the small pail of water he had and grabbed another sponge, walked back and began to help him clean.

* * *

**:...Barricade to Starscream...:**

**:...Report, Barricade...:**

**:...The Autobots are getting closer to Kardiness. If they get too close, they'll risk their sparks for that femme. We need to move...:**

**:..We'll move when I say so...:**

**:...But Starscr-...:**

**:...Quiet, Barricade! And it's Lord Starscream...:**

* * *

"What do you think, Jazz?"

"Ah think ya need ta ask 'er 'bout it, Ratch," Jazz looked at the scans for a moment before looking back to the medic, "Surely she'll talk 'bout it. If yer havin' trouble, I can ask 'er."

"No need. When's the next time she'll be on base?"

"A month from now," Jolt quietly said from where he was sitting across the med bay.

"So, I'll have to ask her today..." Ratchet looked down in deep thought.

"Might want to hurry, she'll be leaving to Quinn's in a few hours." Jolt informed while he continued on Ratchet's work.

The CMO checked the time, it was roughly around noon. She's leaving at five. He swept a servo over his face, "Jazz, what is she doing right now?"

"I think she just finished sparrin' with 'Hide in the trainin' room."

"Alright," Ratchet made his way to the door, opened it, and walked right out.


	13. Author's Note, Grave News

Guys, I'm so sorry this isn't a chapter. But I'm ending Aftershock here and rewriting it...**_AGAIN_**.

I realized my plot was getting sloppy and getting no where so far.

I hate having to do this to you guys, again. I've gotten so far (yet not that far) with this story. I love you all, how I have 38 favorites, 34 follows and 46 reviews! But I'll have to start all over. aaaaggaaaiiinnn...moan

For _this _rewrite, I'm going to have two POVs of two OCs. One from another time, one Kadence. I'll make the story more understandable and smooth. I'm thinking of having the POVs switching every other chapter, or possibly every five chapters...What do you think?

I don't know when I'll end up posting the rewrite, but for now this story is "complete."

Thanks you guys for reading this story after so many mess ups and the rewrite that took New Life into Aftershock. Thanks for being there. And also thanks for staying with me for an entire year!

Keep a lookout for the next Aftershock I'll be writing, which should be out sooner or later (since I already have two chapters done...somehow) and possibly take a look at my newest story, Sunny Side Up while your waiting.

Again, I'm really sorry I have to do this. I feel _really _upset having to restart again. But mistakes show that we're trying, right? And we learn from those mistakes. Trial and error, mess ups, a couple rewrites later, I'll have the polished version out.

My throat constricts every time I think of having to put an end to this story. I hope you 38 favs/34 followers don't mind having to fav and follow again, and I hope to get you all back soon.

I'll leave this story up for you guys to read whenever you wish to.

I want to also thank everyone who's supported me, including 99Luftballonsx.o.x, CastielLunaWinchester, Da DJ Jazzy Maxyne, and many others who've stayed with me all this time. And more awesome people who've recently faved/followed and reviewed. Y'all make my day.

I'll see you guys in the near future! ~


	14. Author's Note, Great News

**The rewrite of Aftershock has been published. Be sure to check it out, all you favoriters and followers.**

**The story will run a little differently. Starting fresh once again, and hopefully, for the last time.**

**I will be updating every Thursday starting today, May 26th.**

**See you guys in the rewrite!**


End file.
